Remember the boy who operated on a 9-year-old girl's burnt fingers when he was just seven years old? Akrit Pran Jaswal, a whiz kid from Nurpur, Himachal Pradesh took the world by shock when a video of him operating successfully on a girl to reshape her burnt fingers went viral. His IQ was tested to be 

146, making him the smartest in India. 

 

For all those, who don't know Akrit, he was India's famous child prodigy who, at the age of 5, began to read Shakespeare. Just one year after he was enrolled in school at the age of 5, he began to teach English and math to students. At 11, he attended the Punjab University, the youngest student ever in the country's history to attend a university. Later, he was invited to London's Imperial College to share the stage with scientists and exchange views on latest advancements in medical research. Akrit earned his bioengineering degree from IIT Kanpur in 2016. The child who read medical textbooks when other kids of his age were still learning the alphabet, was featured on the Oprah Winfrey show. It is there the world came to know of him and his passion - to find a cure to cancer. By 20, he was already a practicing physician. 

 

Akrit centred his focus on finding a cure for cancer- the determination he developed after noticing the plight of numerous cancer patients in India. On the Oprah Winfrey show, he mentioned that the oral gene therapy forms the perfect basis for his cancer research. 

 

Where did his passion to find a cure to cancer stem from? 

When Akrit was 6 years old, upon noticing his interest in science and medicine, doctors from the local hospitals allowed him to observe medical procedures and surgeries. He thus kept visiting hospitals and observed the plight of patients there. This constant exposure coupled with deep-rooted interest in human anatomy 

fuelled Akrit's passion. As cancer treatment costs the earth for a majority of people, he resolved to use his genius to help them. Jaswal strongly believes that oral gene therapy facilitates foundational reconstruction which can be an effective cancer remedy. He extends perennial support and contribution to cancer research in India by organising meetings with government officials and concerned departments. 

 

Let's cheer for Jaswal who is on his journey to study at Harvard. May his appetite for cancer research brings the dissolved hopes of lakhs of cancer victims to life.