15-year-old teen creates soap that could treat skin cancer
A 15-year-old teenager has been named as "Kid of the Year" by TIME Magazine after inventing a soap that could help treat skin cancer.
Heman Bekele, who was born in Ethiopia before his family moved to the United States, recalled that he was inspired to create the product after seeing laborers working in the blistering sun with no protection for their skin.
"When I was younger, I didn’t think much of it, but when I came to America, I realized what a big problem the sun and ultraviolet radiation is when you’re exposed to it for a long time," he told the publication.
By this time, Heman had already taught himself how to conduct his own science experiments after his parents gifted him a chemistry set for Christmas, which came with a sample of sodium hydroxide.
He then started coming up with a soap that fights skin cancer, a research topic that he is "really passionate" in. He started exploring the usage of imiquimod, a drug approved to combat a form of skin cancer and has shown promise against several others.
While imiquimod is normally used as a front-line drug as part of a broader cancer treatment plan, Heman wanted to see if it could be incorporated into something that could be made available more easily to people in the earliest stages of the disease.
"What is one thing that is an internationally impactful idea, something that everyone can use, [regardless of] socioeconomic class? Almost everyone uses soap and water for cleaning. So soap would probably be the best option," Heman said.
While executing the idea was a lot harder than it seemed, he eventually had a triumphant insight when he realized he could combine the soap with a lipid-based nanoparticle that would linger on the skin when the soap was washed away.
Despite a significant point in his goal, he understood that he couldn't accomplish it with limited resources. But a silver lining came when he discovered a challenge held by 3M and Discovery Education for young scientists like him. After submitting a video explaining his idea, the judges selected him as the winner and gave him a prize money amounting to $25,000 (P1.4 million).
Bekele then had a chance to work on his product in a professional lab when molecular biologist Vito Rebecca, whom he met at a networking event, let him use the lab at any time.
"I remember reading somewhere something about this young kid who had an idea for a skin-cancer soap. It immediately piqued my interest, because I thought, how cool, him wanting to make it accessible to the whole world," Rebecca said.
"From the first conversation, his passion was evident. When I found out he lived very nearby in Virginia, I told him if he ever wanted to stop by the lab, he’d be more than welcome," he continued.
Together, Bekele and Rebecca have been conducting tests on mice by injecting the animals with strains of skin cancer before applying the lipid-bound, imiquimod-infused soap to see the results.
Bekele, however, acknowledged that he "still [has] a long way to go" and that it might take a decade before he can have the soap approved as a cancer treatment. Nevertheless, he remains hopeful that his tests would give way to a treatment for early-stage cancers.
Reflecting on his achievement while still being a 15-year-old 10th grader, he highlighted, "Anybody could do what I did. I just came up with an idea, I worked towards that idea, and I was able to bring it to life."
"A lot of people have this mindset that everything’s been done, there’s nothing left for me to do. To anybody having that thought, [I’d say] we’ll never run out of ideas in this world. Just keep inventing. Keep thinking of new ways to improve our world and keep making it a better place," he added.