Several scientists across the globe are racing against time to find a treatment for COVID-19, as the world grapples with the pandemic, and 14-year-old Anika Chebrolu may have the answer.
Chebrolu has just won the 2020 3M Young Scientist Challenge, along with $25,000 for a discovery that could provide a potential therapy to COVID-19.
The eighth grader used 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.
"After spending so much time researching about pandemics, viruses and drug discovery, it was crazy to think that I was actually living through something like this," she told CNN.
"Because of the immense severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the drastic impact it had made on the world in such a short time, I, with the help of my mentor, changed directions to target the SARS-CoV-2 virus."
Her work has only just begun, she says.
"My effort to find a lead compound to bind to the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus this summer may appear to be a drop in the ocean, but still adds to all these efforts. How I develop this molecule further with the help of virologists and drug development specialists will determine the success of these efforts," Chebrolu added.
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