Oct 20, 2020 14:00:00

A 14-year-old girl wins a prize of 2.6 million yen for identifying a molecule that could lead to a cure for COVID-19.

With the number of new COVID-19 cases exceeding

10,000 in the UK and 30,000 in France each day, infections are once again on the rise in Europe. A 14-year-old middle school girl has identified a molecule that could potentially lead to a cure for COVID-19 and won a student science competition. She won $25,000 (2.6 million yen).

2020 Video Challenge entry | Young Scientist Lab
https://www.youngscientistlab.com/index.php/entry/2397

3M Young Scientist Challenge winner is Anika Chebrolu, who won for a coronavirus discovery - CNN
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/18/us/anika-chebrolu-covid-treatment-award-scn-trnd/index.html

America's Top Young Scientist of 2020: 14-Year-Old Researches Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 Virus to Develop Novel Antiviral Drug to Combat Spread of COVID-19 | BioSpace
https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/america-s-top-young-scientist-of-2020-14-year-old-researches-spike-protein-of-sars-cov-2-virus-to-develop-novel-antiviral-drug-to-combat-spread-of-covid-19/

Annika Chebrol, a 14-year-old student at Nelson Middle School in Texas, won the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, a US student science competition co-hosted by 3M , a global chemical and electrical materials manufacturer known for Post-it notes and Scotch tape, and Discovery Education, an organization that supports digital learning methods such as remote learning. She won the competition and received a prize of $25,000.

Chebrol's research involves examining existing databases to identify lead compounds that can selectively bind to the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). In the following movie, Chebrol himself explains his research.

3MYSC Submission - Molecular Docking Study of Hemagglutinin Protein to Develop Anti- Influenza Drug - YouTube


Chebrol is speaking about his research in front of the presentation poster.

Chebrol used

FTmap to map the three-dimensional structure of the protein downloaded from the Protein Data Bank , and identified areas where intervention with low-molecular-weight compounds was possible.

Next, they carefully selected drug molecules from

ZINC 15 , a database of commercially available drug compounds, based on Lipinski's rule , and selected 250,000 molecules that were effective against viruses.

The 250,000 selected molecules were then analyzed using

the CLC Drug Discovery Workbench , a tool that can visually analyze protein- ligand binding.

One hundred molecules with particularly high affinity for the potential intervention sites identified by FTmap were subjected to admetSAR 2.0 , a tool for evaluating ADMET properties, and six final candidates were selected.

These six final candidates were then entered into

PyRx , a virtual screening software for drug discovery, to identify lead compounds.

Dr. Cindy Moss, a judge for the competition, said, 'Chevrol's research was comprehensive, examining numerous databases. She also had a deep understanding of innovation and excellent communication skills. Her desire to use her time and talents to make the world a better place gives us hope.' Upon receiving the award, Chebrol commented, 'I believe the widespread media coverage of my research reflects our hope that the COVID-19 pandemic will end.' She added, 'I hope that the lead molecule I presented today will be useful in actual drug discovery.'