Anika Chebrolu earned $ 25,000 for her work on a possible Covid-19 treatment.
An Indian-American teenager received $ 25,000 for her research to find a treatment for the coronavirus. Anika Chebrolu, a 14-year-old from Texas, just won the 2020 3M Young Scientists Challenge for her work on a potential drug to treat COVID-19, reports CNN.
The schoolgirl has developed a molecule that can bind to a certain coronavirus protein and prevent it from working.
“I developed this molecule that can bind to a certain protein in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This protein binding to it will stop the function of the protein,” the eighth grader said according to ABC News.
“It’s exciting. I’m still trying to process everything,” he said of his big win.
Anika didn’t always focus on the coronavirus. When the year started, he was working on ways to fight the seasonal flu. His plans changed when the pandemic hit. In order to find a potential drug for the highly infectious virus, the 14-year-old used various computer programs to identify how and where the molecule would bind to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Anika used the in-silico methodology for drug discovery to find a molecule that can selectively bind to the Spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in an attempt to find a cure for the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to ABC News, it is unclear if their research has been tested on a live model.
Anika, who hopes to be a medical researcher and teacher one day, said her grandfather inspired her interest in science.
“My grandfather, when I was younger, always pushed me towards science. In fact, he was a chemistry teacher, and he always told me to learn the periodic table of the elements and learn all these things about science and eventually, I just loved it, “he said.
She told CNN that the media hype surrounding her science project is indicative of the fact that everyone wants the pandemic to end. “The last two days, I saw that there was a lot of publicity in the media about my project, as it involves the SARS-CoV-2 virus and reflects our collective hopes to end this pandemic as I, like everyone else, wish that let’s go soon we’ll return to our normal lives. “
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