Alia Al Mansoori
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Alia Al Mansoori | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Alia Al Mansoori in 2019 | |
| Born | c. 2002 |
| Education | Al Mawakeb Schools |
| Known for | Winning the Genes In Space UAE competition in 2017 |
Alia Al Mansoori (Arabic: علياء المنصوري) is a former Emirati pupil at Al Mawakeb School. In 2017, aged 15, she won the Genes in Space UAE competition, with a proposal to study how exposure to space affects the health of live organisms at cellular level. Her experiment was loaded onto the August 2017 SpaceX CRS-12 mission.[1] Al Mansoori's experiment studied the expression of heat-shock proteins in space, establishing that the genes turning them on could be detected.[2] Her experiment was successfully tested by astronaut Peggy Whitson and revealed stress-induced gene expression using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.[3]
In 2018, Al Mansoori represented the United Arab Emirates at the 114th Explorers Club Annual Dinner in New York.[3] The following year, while in her 11th grade at Al Mawakeb School,[4] she was appointed to a two-year part-time internship as Scientific Research Fellow at New York University Abu Dhabi.[4][5][6] Al Mansoori also founded a platform called Emirati Astronaut, to encourage aspiring and veteran astronauts to connect.[5][6]
In 2021, while studying biological sciences at the University of Edinburgh,[7] Al Mansoori was selected to join the "Futureneers", a group of young emiratis tasked with developing ideas to prepare the country for the next 50 years.[8] Her dream "is to be the first Emirati woman to visit Mars".[9]
