A 15-year-old boy who created a soap that “could transform skin cancer treatment” has been named 2024 Kid of the Year Time magazine and Time for Kids. Heman Bekele of Virginia, U.S., is a teen scientist “who could change the way skin cancer is treated,” the magazine said in its announcement released on Thursday. The magazine said he was chosen because he created a soap that “could be a more accessible way to deliver medication to treat skin cancer, including melanoma.”
“It’s incredible to think that one day my soap will be able to have a direct impact on someone else’s life,” the 15-year-old said. Time“That’s why I started all of this,” he said.
Bekele has been observing the effects of the sun on people’s skin since he was a child in Ethiopia. The outlet reported that he noticed that many people worked in the sun without protecting their skin.
Several years later, after his family immigrated to the US, 7-year-old Bekele received a chemistry set for Christmas that contained sodium hydroxide. It was then that he began to learn the power of chemical reactions. Around that time, he began to think more seriously about the potential damage that prolonged sun exposure could have on the human body. Therefore, he became interested in research related to skin cancer and its treatment.
“I’m very passionate about skin cancer research. Whether it’s my own research or what’s happening in the field,” he told the magazine.
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Bekele eventually found out about imiquimod, a drug that was already approved to treat some forms of skin cancer. When used as a cream, it can also help destroy tumors. So, the 15-year-old found a way to use imiquimod to treat the early stages of skin cancer.
“Almost everyone uses soap and water for cleaning,” Bekele said, explaining why he decided to develop the soap. “Soap would probably be the best choice.”
It is worth noting that there are still several steps to be completed before the soap can be approved for use as a treatment. TimeBekele probably has about a decade to get the soap approved as a cancer treatment. In the meantime, he’s promoting it at presentations; that’s when he’s not playing in the marching band and enjoying a game of chess.
