VIDEO: Dublin duo put in worm work to bag top prize at BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition

Two teenagers who examined the effects enzymes added to animal feed have on worms have taken the top prize in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.

The investigation by the students from Loreto Secondary School Balbriggan, Co Dublin, is seen as crucial for the environment and the food industry.

Maria Louise Fufezan, 16, and Diana Bura, 15, looked at the lifespan of the Caenorhabditis Elegans, a microscopic roundworm that lives in the soil. They found that the enzymes shortened the lifespan of free-living transparent nematode and left the 1mm-long organism less able to move about.