A 14-year-old Indian-American girl has won a $25,000 Young Scientist Challenge for a discovery that could provide a potential treatment for Covid19. Anika Chebrolu, an eighth-grader from Frisco in Texas, won the premier middle school science competition for her work in discovering a molecule that can selectively bind to the Spike protein of SARSCoV-2 virus in an attempt to find a cure for the coronavirus pandemic. ''I developed this molecule that can bind to a certain protein on the SARSCoV-2 virus. This protein by binding to it will stop the function of the protein," the eight-grader was quoted as saying by ABC News. "It's exciting. I'm still trying to process everything," she said of her big win.

Anika decided to take part in the Young Scientist Challenge after she battled a severe influenza infection last year. She wanted to find a cure for influenza. However, all that changed after the Covid-19 outbreak, the website said. The 14-year-old used multiple computer programs to identify how and where the molecule would bind to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. According to ABC News, it is not clear whether her research has been tested on a live model. "Science is the basis of life and the entire universe and we have a long way to go to understand it fully," adds Anika, who wants to become a medical researcher and professor. She said that winning the prize and the title is an honour, but her work isn't done. Her next goal, she says, is to work alongside scientists and researchers who are fighting to "control the morbidity and mortality" of the pandemic by developing her findings into an actual cure for the virus.

 "My effort to find a lead compound to bind to the spike protein of the SARSCoV-2 virus this summer may appear to be a drop in the ocean, but still adds to all these efforts," she said. "How I develop this molecule further with the help of virologists and drug development specialists will determine the success of these efforts," she said.

China registers its economic return amid pandemic outbreak

India past Covid-19 high, says govt panel

Corona cases declining in Rajasthan, Health Minister expresses happiness