15-year-old Simon Meehan was declared the winner of the 54th BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition for discovering a non-toxic, organic, original antibiotic in a blackberry bramble plant in his back garden
Professor John O’Halloran, BT Young Scientist Judge, explained:
“This is a really exciting project which explores the possibility of the blackberry leaf extract’s ability to control harmful bacteria. The unexpected findings deliver a unique approach to killing bacteria using natural plant active ingredients.
“Simon selected nine locally sourced plants such as asparagus, nettles and blackberries to test for the presence of chemicals which could potentially be used to control bacterial infection. The leaves of the blackberry plant were shown to contain a chemical which prevented the growth of different bacteria.”
Meehan’s research led him to venture in the fields of chemistry, microbiology and botany to display the effectiveness of destroying Staphylococcus, a bacteria found in a bug that harms humans and is hard to get rid off.
His discovery is going to be effective not only on Staphylococcus but also on Pseudomonas, a bacterium that can be dangerous for those who have a genetic problem known as the cystic fibrosis.
Meehan, a student at Colaiste Choilm in Ballincollig, Cork, hopes to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical industry.
“People are going deep into the Amazon rainforest looking for new antibiotics. But I’m a 15-year-old boy who found this down his own back garden. That has got to be amazing,” he told The Irish Times.
“I feel, without disrespecting the scientific community too much, that there should be some conclusions from this. We are over-thinking science in too many ways.”