Explore

Watch: 17-Year-Old Makes History By Sequencing Genome of Pet Fish

California teen Indeever Madireddy was the first to ever submit an angelfish’s genetic code to the National Library of Medicine.


Indeever Madireddy, 17, is an avid fish lover. Not as food, but as pets. The San Jose, California teen meticulously raises his freshwater angelfish from egg to adulthood. But when one of his prized fish died, he was struck with an idea: use the fish for genetic mapping. Indeever says this is important for use as “a model organism in future biomedical research.”

Working at biohacking space BioCurious, he successfully mapped the genetic code of his pet fish and submitted it to the National Library of Medicine’s Center for Biotechnology Information. 

Indeever’s passion for biomedical research is inspired by a passion for STEM education. 

“STEM, of course, is really important to me,” he says, “because it gives me the tools to solve and answer questions in the world around us.”

Click here to see & share Madireddy’s story — and check out this other recent coverage of teenagers breaking new ground in STEM: 

—Produced & Edited by Jim Fields

Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter

Republish This Article

We want our stories to be shared as widely as possible — for free.

Please view The 74's republishing terms.





On The 74 Today