Anushka Sable
8th Grade, Wadsworth Magnet School
Decatur, GA
Anushka has been interested in the immune system since third grade, when she put her “clean” hands on an agar plate and learned that her body was protecting her from countless microbes. In 2022, she learned that scientists in the Netherlands were detecting microplastics — pieces of plastic far too small to see with the naked eye — in people’s blood. “I wondered if this microplastic pollution might affect our blood cells and health,” Anushka says. She decided to find out what effect microplastics might have on the immune system.
A Platform To Study Microplastic Pollution-Induced Health Disorders
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Project Background
Working in a lab at Emory University, Anushka looked at the effect of microplastics and nanoplastics — even smaller plastic particles — on human blood immune cells. She showed that the immune cells took up bits of plastic into themselves, especially a type of immune cell called a monocyte. Anushka also looked for signs of inflammation by examining whether the plastics caused the cells to produce molecules called cytokines.
They did not, but the microplastics did cause the cells to clump and stick together, forming what Anushka called “tumor-like” structures. She also developed a 3D cell culture model called a “plasticoma” to study whether microplastics might be involved in future development of cancer.
Beyond the Project
Anushka loves to crochet. “Crocheting helps me focus on the project at hand. It reduces my stress, helps me feel calmer and increases my hand-eye coordination, which assists me while studying, playing tennis or an instrument,” she says. She also loves to give her completed projects to her friends and teachers. She would like to become a clinician scientist. “It will help me study and develop treatments for food allergies and eczema, from which my brother, myself and many children are suffering,” she says.
