Minnesota teen Evan Morris built a low-cost system that detected seizure-like activity in worms and triggered ultrasound; recurrence fell 70.1% in his model
Eighteen-year-old Evan Morris of Saint Paul, Minnesota, has developed a low-cost experimental system that could offer researchers a faster way to study how brain stimulation might control seizures. His project, called SILENCE: On-demand seizure suppression via closed-loop sonogenetics, uses genetically modified worms, a computer-controlled detection system and ultrasound to identify and interrupt seizure-like activity. According to the Society for Science, which presents the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) awards, Morris received the $10,000 Mary Sue Coleman Award for Life Science Innovation & Impact in 2026 for the project. In his experiments, the system reduced seizure recurrence by 70.1% and lowered overall seizure activity by nearly 30%.How the system worksThe project is based on a concept called sonogenetics, an approach that uses ultrasound to influence genetically modified cells. Morris worked with Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny worm widely used in biological research because its nervous system can be studied in controlled laboratory experiments.To make the worms responsive to ultrasound, Morris used gene editing to introduce an ultrasound-sensitive channel into their brain cells, according to the Society for Science. He then developed a computer-controlled system capable of identifying seizure-like activity in the worms. When the system detected the abnormal activity, it automatically activated an ultrasound stimulus designed to interrupt it.This creates what is known as a closed-loop system. Instead of applying stimulation at predetermined intervals, the system continuously monitors activity and responds when it detects a specific event. That distinction is important for studying neuromodulation. Researchers investigating brain stimulation need to determine which stimulation parameters, such as timing and intensity, produce the most useful effects. Finding those settings can involve repeated experiments and considerable trial and error.Morris’s system was designed to make that process faster and less expensive by allowing stimulation to be automatically delivered when seizure-like activity occurs.Seizure recurrence fellThe results were particularly notable because the system did more than simply detect abnormal activity. Morris used it to test different stimulation settings and determine which ones were most effective at suppressing seizure-like behaviour.According to the Society for Science, the experiments showed a 70.1% reduction in seizure recurrence, while overall seizure activity fell by nearly 30%. The results are notable because they show that the system could be used to test different stimulation settings in a living model.Morris’s work does not mean that the worm system is itself a treatment for epilepsy. Instead, its potential lies in providing researchers with an experimental platform for studying how stimulation affects neural activity and for identifying promising settings before moving toward more complex studies.Why the research mattersOne of the most interesting aspects of Morris’s project is its combination of biology, engineering and computer control. The system brings together genetic modification, ultrasound stimulation and automated seizure detection rather than relying on a single laboratory technique.The low-cost design could also make repeated experiments more accessible. If researchers can rapidly test many stimulation parameters in a living model, they may be able to identify promising approaches more efficiently. As per the Society for Science, Morris’s work could contribute to faster, lower-cost ways of studying brain stimulation in living systems. The project also earned Morris first place in the Cellular and Molecular Biology category at the 2026 Regeneron ISEF.The broader significance is therefore not that a teenager has developed a ready-made epilepsy treatment, but that he has created a relatively inexpensive experimental system for exploring a difficult problem in neuroscience. By allowing seizure-like activity to be detected and stimulation to be delivered automatically, Morris’s work demonstrates how closed-loop technology could help researchers investigate more precise approaches to controlling abnormal brain activity.His results provide an early proof of concept in a worm model, and further research would be needed to determine whether similar approaches can eventually translate to more complex biological systems and, ultimately, human medicine.
