Rainbow dream (From Penarth Times)

Rainbow dream

A STAR Stanwell pupil has been lighting up London in an impressive science exhibition. Georgina Campbell, 16, was at the Royal Society's summer exhibition and presented an exhibit called 'How to genetically engineer a Rainbow'.

It had been selected as one of only 20 exhibits from across the country for the prestigious exhibition.

Georgina, who starts her A-levels next term, found herself in a black tent surrounded by several hundred Knights, more than 50 Fellows of the Royal Society, dozens of MPs and many distinguished industrialists.

She excited her audience with hot and cold light, how a glow-worm glows by mixing chemicals that made light, why you don't get sunburnt indoors, genetically engineered bacteria glowing green with a jelly fish gene, and many other amazing examples of living light.

Impressive

Guests impressed by Georgina's enthusiasm and grasp of science were Northern Ireland secretary David Trimble, many other senior MPs, and senior academics, and one of this year's winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

Rainbow proteins are an incredible new technology for lighting up the chemistry of living cells, drug discovery, clinical diagnosis and education.

All this is possible through Rainbow proteins, invented by Georgina's father, Professor Campbell, at the University Wales College of Medicine. Rainbow proteins are genetically engineered bioluminescent proteins that change colour when they react with a substance of biomedical importance. They even have potential for searching for life on Mars.

Georgina intends developing Rainbow proteins in a science project next term as her gold CREST project, following her success at the Royal Society, and winning the prize for best science project, with Eloise Carter also of Stanwell, at the DaVinci-Linnaeus-Darwin meeting last November in Florence.

Georgina travels to Rotherham at the end of August to light up a rainbow with Granada TV.