(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- Step aside, Doogie Howser. Generation Y has its own medical whiz kids: Mira Lalchandani and Denton Sato, both 18.

Doogie, of the eponymous early 90s TV show, breezed through college and medical school before his first shave. Mira and Denton, while still in high school, landed jobs as cancer researchers at a major academic medical center.

Their research won first place in the team category at a regional science fair last month, snagging the Sacramento science prodigies an all-expenses-paid trip to Louisville, Ky., for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair on May 12. The week-long fair attracts more than 1,200 of the most curious and capable young scientific minds from more than 40 countries every year. The finalists compete for more than $2 million in awards and scholarships.

"It was a great experience," Denton says of his apprenticeship in the laboratory of Ralph deVere White, director of the UC Davis Cancer Center and currently the principal investigator of six major National Institutes of Health-funded research projects in prostate cancer.

The junior scientist spent nearly every afternoon this school year in deVere White's lab. Instead of shooting hoops or watching MTV, Denton studied how a particular mutation of p53, a tumor-suppressor protein, affects cells when they are subjected to radiation. P53 is of particular interest to prostate cancer researchers because the protein is damaged in at least a third of all prostate cancer cases.

"I learned a lot," Mira says of her five-week stint in the laboratory of Paul Gumerlock, assistant professor of hematology-oncology and an investigator for four major NIH-funded research projects involving the molecular biology of p53 and related proteins.

Instead of hanging out at the mall or relaxing at the pool this summer, Mira worked about 25 hours a week alongside researchers at the cancer center. Her project: studying how two newly cultivated prostate cancer cell lines respond to radiation.

Midway through the school year, Denton and Mira, both seniors at Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, decided to combine their work into a single project for the Intel competition. Using sophisticated genetic research techniques, the apprentice prostate cancer researchers introduced Denton’s mutant p53 protein into one of the cell lines Mira had investigated. Experiments to determine how the altered cells responded to radiation were the next step.

Their finding: Adding the mutant protein seemed to change the way the cancer cells responded to radiation damage. This may make them more vunerable to radiation -- a good thing for cancer researchers interested in discovering better ways to cure cancer.

Denton and Mira's mentors also enjoyed the experience. "It was a great experience on our end," deVere White said. Added Gumerlock: "Both kids were extremely studious and meticulous, and they brought a high-level of enthusiasm and excitement about science."

Susan Scott, a Ph.D. candidate in genetics who works in Gumerlock's lab, helped supervise Mira. Nancy Nesslinger, a staff research associate in deVere White's lab, worked closely with Denton. Scott and Nesslinger were impressed, too. "We’re glad they won, because they both worked really hard," Scott says. "They are great kids."

Mira and Denton landed their lab jobs on their own initiative; UC Davis Cancer Center had no formal high school internship program. Denton called deVere White to ask if he could help out in a laboratory. Mira did the same with Gumerlock.

Within a week, the enterprising kids knew more about genetics than their science teacher. And they benefitted from teaching tools not found in any high school science lab -- a linear accelerator, for example, which they used to irradiate cells, and a flow cytometer, which they used to quantify DNA in large cell samples. Each piece of equipment costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In Louisville, Denton and Mira face some stiff competition. A Florida junior will present her work using DNA microarray analysis to determine the effects of a compound known as trichostatin A on the gene expression profile of human prostate cancer cells. A student from Singapore will present original research in bladder cancer. A Louisiana senior will report findings related to translation initiation factor eIF4E in prostate cancer.

No typical science-fair fare at this event. You won’t find a carnation in food coloring, or witness a vinegar-and-baking soda eruption from a clay volcano.

Win or lose, Denton and Mira say they'll return from Kentucky with knowledge and experiences to last a lifetime.

"I learned that patience is just huge in science," says Denton, who will attend UCLA in the fall.

"I found that research requires enormous patience," agrees Mira, who will attend Stanford in September. "You know the work you are doing is going to make a difference, but it will take a long time."

Editor: Photo available on request