Sara Volz Experiments Algae in a $100K Laboratory (Video)

Sara Volz breeds algae
Credit: CBS News

Sara Volz, a 17-year-old Science genius, is spending her time breeding new algae inside her $100,000 state-of-the-art laboratory in Colorado Springs. Her project is aimed towards converting algae into an alternative source of fuel.

She received $100,000 reward for winning the Intel Science Talent Search recently. Volz is an incoming freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology next fall. The senior high student revealed that she "want to go into academia, so do basically what I'm doing, except with better labs."

During her sixth grade, Volz showed her mathematical skills when she memorized the first 80 digits of the endless number, 'pi.'

At the annual White House Science Fair, US President Barack Obama cited the teen's unique project. Obama proudly introduced the Science whiz and said that "Sara is breeding new types of algae. She stores them in a lab in her room."

In one of her interviews, Volz explained her experiment.

For most of my growth experiments, they have to be very closely monitored. Sometimes I'm sampling every day or more than once a day. And so for that I need something a little closer to home.

More about Sara Volz by watching the CBS News video below.