'Tick chick' authors article for Misouri medical journal

SIKESTON -- Around school Chelsea Grigery may be affectionately known as the "tick chick," but in the world of science, she's making an even bigger name for herself.

The 18-year-old senior at Sikeston High School has been accepted for publication later this year in Missouri Medicine: The Journal of the Missouri State Medical Association.

"She's 18 years old has authored an original scientific study, and it's going to be published in a peer-reviewed, indexed professional medical journal -- while she's still in high school," said Grigery's mentor, Dr. Ed Masters of Sikeston.

Masters called the acceptance of Grigery's publication a once-in-a-century event since "Missouri Medicine" has been around for 100 years, and Grigery is the youngest author to ever be published in the journal.

"She has an incredibly inquisitive mind and also has the ability to think outside the box and she's a problem-solver," Masters said about Grigery. "I've had bright students who can regurgitate every fact ever read, but they're not problem-solvers, and that, in my opinion, is why she's special."

Last month at her school's science fair Grigery took home the grand champion prize for her project, which is the same one featured in Missouri Medicine. The win advanced her to the Southeast Missouri Regional Science Fair. If she's successful there, Grigery will move on to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Grigery placed third at the ISEF last year for her project about what attracts ticks.

Keeping the focus on ticks, Grigery returned this year with a project no scientist has ever researched: a study exploring the killing factor of blood from mice and Eastern Fence Lizards on Lyme disease and Lyme-like illness.

There's no denying this young woman knows what she's talking about either. She can use the big scientific words like spirochetes and Borrelia burgdorferi (another name for Lyme disease), but she can also break the scientific jargon into laymen's terms.

"We have just found out within the past few years there are supposedly different spirochetes of Lyme disease. Here in Missouri, many scientists believe that there is a different spirochete (bacteria) that causes a disease very similar to Lyme disease. This disease is a Lyme-like illness, spread by the bacteria Borrelia lonestari. This disease is believed to be transmitted by the lone star tick," Grigery explained.

Masters opened the door for Grigery's research through a contact at the University of Georgia, where Dr. Susan Little's laboratory was the first to discover how to culturally grow the Borrelia lonestari spirochetes, Grigery said.

For three days in December, Grigery, her mother and Masters were in Atlanta, Ga., at the university, where Grigery was granted access to the equipment and lab to conduct her research.

Grigery's idea for the project stemmed from information she learned during the international competition last year. Grigery was chosen to present her project to a panel of special judges. After the presentation, a member of the audience suggested Grigery should further explore the research completed by Dr. Robert Lane at the University of Berkeley, California.

"Dr. Robert Lane said the reason why California has a low incidence of Lyme disease is because young ticks will feed primarily on the Western Fence Lizard. When the lizard's blood travels through the tick's body, it rids the tick of the disease," Grigery explained.

Missouri is home to the Eastern Fence Lizard, and also in Missouri, the incidence for real Lyme disease is also minimal, Grigery pointed out.

To conduct her experiment, Grigery used both Eastern Fence Lizard blood and mouse blood, testing them against Lyme disease and Lyme-like illness. The mouse blood was used to represent mammals, which are what adult ticks typically feed on, she explained.

Then at different time intervals, Grigery examined samples under a microscope to see if any bacteria causing either disease were present.

With Lyme-like illness, officially called STARI (Southern tick-associated rash illness), Grigery found the mouse and lizard blood killed the disease. With real Lyme disease, the lizard blood killed the disease, but the mouse blood did not.

"This conclusion is very significant for several reasons," Grigery said. "First, the deer tick, which primarily feeds on lizards during its early years, is the main transmitter of true Lyme disease. The results would suggest that Missouri has a low incidence of true Lyme disease because the deer ticks feed on lizards which kill Lyme disease spirochetes.

"Secondly, because the mouse blood did not kill the Lyme disease spirochetes, the mouse is a competent host for the disease. In other words, people could consider focusing on limiting the mouse population in their areas instead of eliminating ticks (which is difficult) in order to reduce the chances of contracting true Lyme disease."

Thirdly, the lone star tick is thought to be the primary source of Lyme-like illness, Grigery said.

"Because this study shows that Lyme-like illness was killed by mouse blood, my project further supports other publications that state the lone star tick does not feed on mice," Grigery said. "Identification of the specific element in the blood of the lizard and the mouse that apparently kills the diseases could possibly be instrumented in developing a cure."

By January Grigery finished writing her findings and was ready to submit them for publication. When she found out she succeeded, Grigery said she and her mother were ecstatic.

Grigery wants to pursue a degree in pediatric medicine and plans to continue her work wherever she attends college.

Although she enjoys it, science isn't the only aspect of Grigery's life. She participates in several extracurricular activities and it's a wonder the teenager has time for a social life.

"I feel like I've kind of established a reputation," Grigery said. "If I hadn't done a project, everyone would have asked why."

And truth be told, Grigery enjoys both the win and the pressure, she said.

"You have to make a name for yourself," Grigery said. "You always have that one thing that distinguishes yourself from others. And this is my deal."