Heman Bekele, a 15-year-old from Fairfax, Virginia, has captured headlines and hearts with his groundbreaking creation: a soap designed to help prevent and treat skin cancer. This isn’t just any soap; it’s called Melanoma Treating Soap (MTS), and it can potentially change lives.
TIME Magazine’s “Kid of the Year” 15-year-old Heman Bekele, invented a soap that could one day treat, and even prevent, some skin cancers 🙏 pic.twitter.com/KgGN0C3BlB
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) August 15, 2024
Heman’s journey began years before he won the title of America’s Top Young Scientist at the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge. His inspiration can be backdated directly to his childhood in Ethiopia. Growing up, he had been an eyewitness to how lethal skin cancer could be and how people died for lack of affordable treatments. Watching laborers work in sizzling conditions without any skin protection set something inside him in motion: a longing to build something meaningful.
That passion went right along with him when he relocated to the United States at age four. So this young scientist decided to take the past year and dive into research and experimentation until the product of his innovation was complete: this soap. The goal is that an effective, low-cost solution be within reach for communities desperately in need. “I want to make a difference,” Heman says. “This soap isn’t just any product; it’s a hope icon.”
MTS is based on a unique mechanism that reactivates dendritic cells in the skin. Dendritic cells are part of our body’s defense system; they assist the organism in bringing into action the elements that fight cancer. By doing this, Heman’s soap incorporates a cancer-fighting agent and utilizes lipid nanoparticles to carry these agents into the body to enhance the body’s natural defenses against cancer. This is an approach to treating existing skin cancer with promise for its prevention.
While experts say that Heman’s invention is very promising, further clinical testing is required to prove efficacy. Although Heman’s method impresses medics, who claim it could trigger the immune system to fight skin cancer more effectively, it is still at the development stage. The initial response was overwhelmingly positive.
Heman has big plans for the future. Having taken home a $25,000 cash prize from the Young Scientist Challenge, he intends to further fine-tune his soap and establish a non-profit organization that will give it away far and wide. “I want everybody to have this soap,” he says. It should be available to whoever needs it.”
This could be very exciting, but the soap has not undergone extensive clinical trials yet, so its safety profile and possible side effects are largely unknown. Experts warn that more testing needs to be done for it to hit the consumer market safely. While traditional cancer treatments often come with well-known side effects, MTS hopes to offer a much gentler alternative.
Though the story of Heman includes scientific innovation, it also tells of resilience and selflessness. He has received many vital recognitions to his skin health dedication by being selected as TIME’s Kid of the Year for 2024. He dedicates this passion to making a difference by his own experiences and the urge to help if he finds somebody in need.
So what motivates this young innovator? Heman talks of memories from his childhood, when he was exposed under the scorching sun, his parents’ constant reminders to protect their skin, and bitter experiences he himself witnessed in Ethiopia. All of that shapes his vision and fuels a passion for skin cancer research.
In this soap, Heman Bekele does not just create a product; he creates a legacy. He hopes to see it one day revolutionize the approach towards the treatment and prevention of skin cancer. Prove how one young mind can inspire a movement. Many eyes keep watching with bated breath as he continues in his research and development, awaiting change to bring into this world.
