In a remarkable feat of scientific innovation and social responsibility, a 14-year-old boy has invented a soap that could help fight skin cancer. Heman Bekele, a ninth grader at W.T. Woodson High School in Annandale, Virginia, won the title of America’s Top Young Scientist after competing with nine others in the 2023 3M Young Scientists Challenge. Heman was given the honor for inventing a compound-based bar of soap that he claims could help fight melanoma, with each bar reportedly costing about $0.50 to make.
The teen’s inspiration came after learning about how low skin cancer survival rates are in parts of Africa, where medical treatments are largely unavailable. As a result of the study, Heman created a formulation he calls ‘melanoma-treating soap’ or MTS, which contains three ingredients. Heman explained in his video submission for the competition that these ingredients are all keratolytic agents that break down the outer layers of the skin and allow its dendritic cells to be reactivated. The dendritic cells are professional antigen-presenting cells that inform the body against invasive pathogens while enforcing tolerance to self and harmless environmental antigens, and they boost immune responses.
Heman’s MTS can be applied to the skin every few days with a prescription. According to the teen, it took him just eight months to conceptualize and create his invention and submit it to the competition. As for his long-term plans, he plans to refine his creation and create a non-profit organization to distribute it to underprivileged communities across the country over the next five years.
As Heman prepared to accept his award in front of hundreds of people in St. Paul, he told Fox that he was “shocked to be the one chosen. It was so surreal!”
Heman beat out finalists from Portland, Oregon; Baltimore, New York; Austin, Texas; and Oviedo, Florida. Heman’s win also gave him a $25,000 grand prize, which included an exceptional mentorship with a 3M scientist. Third-place winner Sarah Wang, a seventh-grader from Andover, Massachusetts, received $2,000 for her development of a glove that can detect certain epileptic seizures with simple hand movements. Students in fourth through tenth place each won $1,000 and a $500 gift card.