From high school to the ISS: Pristine Onuoha turns DNA experiment into research

High school student Pristine Onuoha's science project travelled beyond the classroom to the International Space Station (ISS), where astronauts helped test her DNA research idea. After winning the 2022 Genes in Space competition, her experiment was launched into space in June 2023. Using a fluorescence-based technique called fluoPCR, researchers successfully detected selected DNA sequences in the space environment. In July 2026, Onuoha reached another milestone as lead author of a peer-reviewed research paper reporting the findings.