Sitting on a desk in his middle school classroom, sixth-grader James Gentry is confident and curious.
Cradled in his hands is another hand, a yellow one made with a wad of tissue packed into one of his mother’s dishwashing gloves. Clear packing tape holds a dime-size dot to the wrist of the faux-paw.
His creation: medicine-filled bubbles that leach through the skin, eliminating the need for needles. James said he hopes to create a painless injection, a godsend to children and squeamish adults.
“I’m hoping it will actually work by next year, so I don’t have to take a shot,” the 12-year-old said. “I do not like shots.”
That dot — a Bubble Wrap bubble packed with glue — could be James’ ticket to New York, to scientific stardom. It’s his entry in a Sealed Air Corp. young inventor competition, and James is one of 15 semifinalists.
Photo by Joshua Trujillo.
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