Jasmine Eyal, Age 16, of Singapore, Receives Top Honors and $400,000 in Education Prizes for her Original Video Explaining Mechanogenetic Cellular Engineering

LOS ANGELES, April 5, 2025 /CNW/ — The Breakthrough Prize Foundation today announced Singapore-based Jasmine Eyal as winner of the 10th annual Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a global science video competition designed to inspire creative thinking and communications skills around fundamental concepts in the life sciences, physics, and mathematics.

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge will award a total of $400,000 in educational prizes to Jasmine and her science teacher Julie Li-Eyal. Jasmine will receive a $250,000 college scholarship. In her role as science teacher, Ms. Li-Eyal will receive a $50,000 prize. The prize also includes a state-of-the-art science lab designed by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory valued at $100,000, which will be given to Community High School, part of the Beginning with Children Education Network in Brooklyn, NY.

Jasmine was honored alongside the 2025 Breakthrough Prize laureates at The Breakthrough Prize Ceremony in Los Angeles.

“This is the tenth year of the Junior Challenge, and every year I’m very impressed by the quality of the submissions,” said Julia Milner, co-founder of the Breakthrough Prize. “Jasmine’s video is a great example of where curiosity can lead you. She was researching potential treatments for her grandma’s diabetes, and it inspired her to explain the idea in a really smart, original and funny way.”

Jasmine’s winning entry explains mechanogenetic cellular engineering, an innovative biotechnology, exploring how it works and its potential as a medical tool in the future. The short film can be seen here. The entry marks Jasmine’s second time as a competition finalist, having entered the Breakthrough Junior Challenge in 2023.

“I am so honored to receive this award. My grandma, Popo, struggles with Type 1 diabetes, and I was inspired to learn more about this field of biology because of its potential to revolutionize health and medicine, treat chronic illnesses, and improve health outcomes,” said Jasmine. “The intersection of biology and technology in cellular engineering is an area where breakthroughs can dramatically improve the quality of life for countless individuals, including Popo.”   

Her grandmother, who co-stars in the video, was the first person to share with Jasmine the news of her win, in a video which can be seen here.

“I was so pleased when Jasmine asked me to participate in her entry and was delighted to be the one to share the news with her,” said Anne Li, Jasmine’s grandmother. “Jasmine has been an enthusiastic learner her entire life, and her mother has been an outstanding homeschool educator, connecting everyday experiences to science. She encourages Jasmine to approach the world with scientific curiosity, teaching her to hypothesize, experiment, and analyze results critically.”

“We are incredibly grateful for this generous gift, which will be a true blessing for our students and the entire Community High School family,” said Esosa Ogbahon, Superintendent of Beginning with Children and Community High School Principal. “Science is a critical and ever-evolving field and having access to a dedicated lab will allow our students to engage in hands-on learning, deepen their curiosity, and explore the endless possibilities that science offers. This opportunity will not only enrich our curriculum but also inspire the next generation of scientists, innovators, and problem-solvers.” 

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is a global initiative to develop and demonstrate young people’s knowledge of science and scientific principles; generate excitement in these fields; support STEM career choices; and engage the imagination and interest of the public-at-large in key concepts of fundamental science.  Each year, students ages 13-18 are invited to create original videos (up to two minutes in length) that illustrate a concept or theory in life sciences, physics or mathematics. Submissions are evaluated based on the students’ ability to communicate complex scientific ideas in the most engaging, illuminating and imaginative ways.

“Jasmine and all the incredible finalists demonstrate a passion for learning – and a passion for sharing learning with others,” said Sal Khan. “Khan Academy is proud to partner with the Challenge to encourage and support students around the world as they explore deep concepts in science and math.”

This year, the Breakthrough Junior Challenge attracted more than 2,300 applicants from around the world. Submissions were narrowed down to 30 semifinalists, which represented the top submissions after two rounds of judging: first, a mandatory peer review, followed by an evaluation panel of judges. Sixteen finalists were selected in September 2024.

Now in its 10th year, the Breakthrough Junior Challenge has attracted more than 100,000 students, parents and teachers, and received applications from more than 30,000 students from over 200 countries across the globe, including Canada, India, Mauritius, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United States. The Challenge has awarded more than $2.5 million in college scholarships, $1 million for science labs, and $500,000 in awards to inspiring teachers in science or math. Previous winners have created videos about the Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, Circadian Rhythms, Neutrino Astronomy, Quantum Physics, and more. Award alumni have gone on to attend institutions including MIT, Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford. 

This year’s Selection Committee was comprised of: Ian Agol, professor of mathematics, University of California, Berkeley, and Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics laureate; Rachel Crane, former space and science correspondent, CNN; Pascale Ehrenfreund, PhD, president, Committee on Space Research COSPAR; John Grunsfeld, PhD, NASA astronaut and administrator; Mae Jemison, science literacy expert, former astronaut, and principal, 100 Year Starship; Jeffrey W. Kelly, professor of chemistry, Scripps Research Institute and Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences laureate; Scott Kelly, retired NASA astronaut; Salman Khan, founder and CEO, Khan Academy; Ijad Madisch, CEO, co-founder, ResearchGate; Samaya Nissanke, University of Amsterdam, Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics laureate; Nicole Stott, NASA astronaut; Andrew Strominger, professor of physics, Harvard University, and Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics laureate; Terence Tao, UCLA professor and Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics laureate; Esther Wojcicki, founder, Palo Alto High Media Arts Center; Richard Youle, National Institutes of Health, and Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences laureate; and S. Pete Worden, chairman, Breakthrough Prize Foundation and executive director, Breakthrough StarShot.

Submissions for the 2025 Breakthrough Challenge open on May 1st. 

Partners

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge
The Breakthrough Junior Challenge, founded by Julia and Yuri Milner, is a global science video competition, aiming to develop and demonstrate young people’s knowledge of science and scientific principles and communications skills; generate excitement in these fields; support STEM career choices; and engage the imagination and interest of the public-at-large in key concepts of fundamental science.

The Breakthrough Prize
The Breakthrough Prize, renowned as the “Oscars of Science,” recognizes the world’s top scientists. Each prize is $3 million and presented in the fields of Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics (one per year) and Mathematics (one per year). In addition, up to three New Horizons in Physics Prizes, up to three New Horizons in Mathematics Prizes and up to three Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prizes are given out to early-career researchers each year. Laureates attend a gala award ceremony designed to celebrate their achievements and inspire the next generation of scientists.

The Breakthrough Prizes were founded by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Julia and Yuri Milner, and Anne Wojcicki. The Prizes have been sponsored by the personal foundations established by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Julia and Yuri Milner and Anne Wojcicki. Selection Committees composed of previous Breakthrough Prize laureates in each field choose the winners. Information on the Breakthrough Prize is available at breakthroughprize.org.

About Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Khan Academy is piloting an AI guide called Khanmigo that is a tutor and teaching assistant. Khanmigo is integrated into a platform that includes practice problems, videos and articles that cover a range of subjects. Khan Academy’s free app for young children ages two to eight is Khan Academy Kids. The organization partners with school districts across the country that serve students who are historically under-resourced. Districts use Khan Academy Districts, MAP Accelerator and Khan Academy Kids to help teachers differentiate instruction. Worldwide, more than 160 million registered learners have used Khan Academy in 190 countries and 51 languages. For more information, please see research findings about Khan Academy and our press center.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL)
The Breakthrough Prize Lab for the winning student’s school is designed in partnership with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). Founded in 1890, CSHL is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that powers transformation discoveries in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, artificial intelligence, and quantitative biology. Merging world-renowned science and education divisions, CSHL nurtures a culture of curiosity, discovery, and innovation to make lives better. CSHL’s DNA Learning Center (DNALC) is the largest provider of hands-on instruction in genetics and biotechnology – operating five centers in the NY metro area, encompassing 20 teaching and bioinformatics labs. Each year 36,000 middle and high school students conduct experiments with DNALC faculty; an additional 2,000 participate in intensive, 5-day summer camps and mentored research projects. For more information visit www.cshl.edu.

Contact
For more information, including competition rules, video submission guidelines and queries, go to: breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org.

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SOURCE The Breakthrough Prize