They started on the project after learning about the 2011 famine in the Horn of Africa. The girls came up with an experiment that resulted in seriously impressive results that are considered a breakthrough in crop yield technoology: When a gardening project went awry, they discovered a naturally occurring bacteria in soil called Diazotroph. The girls determined that the bacteria could be used to speed up the germination process of certain crops, like barley and oats, by 50 percent, potentially helping fulfill the rising demand for food worldwide.
Read more: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/26/1332621/-Three-16-year-old-girls-win-Google-s-global-science-competition-with-breakthrough-project?detail=email
