A 17-year-old won a science fair and he may have also changed the way that the flu is treated in the process.
California resident Eric Chen took home the grand prize Monday at the Google Science Fair for his work tackling the flu virus, according NBC News.
He created a 3-D models and computer simulations of the protein influenza endonuclease, a target of new flu drugs. He then screened half a million chemical compounds that would inhibit the protein.
“As a result, I identified a number of new, potent and structurally diverse endonuclease inhibitors with great potential to be developed into new anti-influenza drugs,” he said in a summary of his project.
He plans on developing the top 237 chemical compounds into highly potent drugs with low toxicity.
For his work, he won a $50,000 scholarship and a trip to the Galapagos Islands with the National Geographic Society
Other winners include: 16-year-old Elif Bilgin of Turkey who used banana peels to make bioplastics, 15-year-old Ann Makosinski of Canada who developed a flashlight controlled by body heat, 14-year-old Viney Kumar from Australia who developed a smartphone app that alerts drivers if an emergency vehicle is heading towards them.
All other winners received a $25,000 scholarship, according to The Huffington Post. They, along with Chen, also won other prizes including a Chromebook, a tablet and a Lego Mindstorms kit.
