A 15-year-old has developed a better, faster and cheaper HIV test as part of school science project. Nicole Ticea, a 10th grader at the York House School in Vancouver, British Columbia, collaborated with researchers at Simon Fraser University on a test that allows users to place a drop of blood on a chip and receive nearly instantaneous results.

I Fucking Love Science calls the process "only slightly more difficult than a pregnancy test."

The test looks for the virus itself, rather than antibodies, effectively shrinking the window between infection and detection. There's still a long way to go before it's adopted wholesale by the medical community, but eventually it could mean earlier intervention with anti-retroviral drugs—ultimately leading to fewer transmissions of the virus and improved outcomes for those who test positive.

“Being in the lab really reinforced what I already knew,” says Ticea. “That scientific research involves dedication, determination, long hours and a deep-rooted love for the field that makes sacrifices worthwhile.”