What Your Genes Say About the Air You Breathe | Saanvi Uppalapati | TEDxChantilly HS
What if a simple nasal swab could reveal how pollution is impacting my brain in real time? In this talk, I share how I’ve been exploring the use of RNA data to uncover early signs of bodily inflammation caused by immediate environmental exposure. I’ll take you through my journey of building a tool that combines gene expression with real-time air quality data, helping people understand the hidden health costs of pollution. And I’ll explain why I believe the future of public health might begin at the molecular level and what we, as a society, can do to save ourselves and our planet. Saanvi Uppalapati is a rising high school senior from Virginia with a passion for ethical AI, environmental health, and innovation. She has conducted research on sustainable machine learning, presented at national science fairs and energy conferences, and is currently building tools to connect pollution exposure to brain health using RNA data. Outside of school, she loves baking, playing the flute, and photography, as well as volunteering at nonprofit organizations that motivate young girls to pursue computer science. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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