In a major breakthrough which could play a role in the discovery of a vaccine for the Zika virus, a team of scientists from United States’ Purdue University have for the first time successfully determined the structure of the virus.
The seven-member team, comprising of researchers and doctoral students, published a paper on their findings in the journal Science last week on March 31.
And the youngest member from the team is a 29-year-old, Devika Sirohi, an Indian-origin doctoral student. The landmark discovery was done over a period of intense work of four months.
“It will help doctors and researchers to find a cure for the deadly disease that has been reported in 33 countries,” Sirohi said as per a report by The Times of India.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh expressed his congratulations on Twitter:
Here is all you need to know about the young Indian woman scholar who is a part of the landmark medical discovery:
- Sirohi was born and brought up in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh from where she did her schooling
- She did her Bachelors in bio-chemistry from Delhi University and MSc from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
- In 2011, She went to Purdue University to pursue PhD in Structure and Maturation of Flatviruses.
- Both her parents are Delhi-based doctors. Her mother is a paediatrician while her father is a pathologist.
(All images sourced from Twitter/Purdue University)
