Girls Dominate the Siemens Competition

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Darnell's parents say they never pushed their daughter, the oldest of four children, into science. "But she was aware of the excitement of scientific discovery that we felt and discussed at home," Jennifer Darnell says.

Individual winner Jain also was exposed to science at home: Her mother is a doctor, and her father is a scientist. In fifth grade Jain entered her first science competition, using candy to understand the basics of commercial glass production. Working with a professor at Lehigh University, she spent three years working on her Siemens Competition project, Bone Growth in Zebra Fish Fins Occurs via Multiple Pulses of Cell Proliferation. She "is the first to identify that bone grows in mini-spurts," according to the judges, who found her work to be at graduate student level. Her research has been published in the scientific journal Developmental Dynamics.

Results Could Lead to a Cure for TB

The team winners, Schlossberger and Marinoff, are part of an independent study group at their Long Island high school that requires every member to enter the Siemens Competition. They chose their project, FtsZ Inhibitors as Novel Chemotherapeutic Agents for Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, because TB is one of the world's leading killers and new treatments are desperately needed. Their research may lead to one, the judges say: "These students synthesized new compounds to kill tuberculosis by targeting a specific protein that could lead to a new treatment for drug-resistant TB."

Schlossberger says she was drawn to science at a young age as an avenue for exploring critical thinking and problem-solving, while Marinoff says she has always found science very empowering. Both say they got tremendous encouragement from older women scientists to pursue their research.

In addition to Jain and Darnell, the individual winners include Jacob Steinhardt of Vienna, Va., who was awarded a $40,000 scholarship; Ayon Sen of Austin, Tex., granted a $30,000 scholarship; and Nandini Sarma of Overland Park, Kans., winner of a scholarship worth $20,000. In the group category, $50,000 was awarded to Vivek Bhattacharya of Cary, N.C., and Hao Lian and Daniel Vitek of Raleigh, N.C. A $40,000 scholarship went to Camden Miller of Fairview, Tex., and John Chen of Richardson, Tex.

Arnst is a senior writer for BusinessWeek based in New York.