Singapore-born teen discovers tree pulp's anti-ageing benefits
Published on May 9, 2012
OTTAWA (AFP) - A Singapore-born teenager who recently moved to Canada won a national science award on Tuesday for her groundbreaking work on the anti-ageing properties of tree pulp, officials said.
Janelle Tam, 16, won the US$5,000 (S$6,240) award in the 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada for showing that cellulose, the woody material found in trees that enables them to stand, also acts as a potent anti-oxidant.
'Her super anti-oxidant compound could one day help improve health and anti-ageing products by neutralising more of the harmful free-radicals found in the body,' Bioscience Education Canada said in a statement.
Tam's work involved tiny particles in the tree pulp known as nano-crystalline cellulose (NCC), which is flexible, durable, and also stronger than steel.