29-year-old Devika Sirohi from Uttar Pradesh is among the seven-member team of researchers that has successfully determined the structure of the Zika virus for the first time.
Devika, who was born and brought up in Meerut city, is a doctoral student at Purdue University in the US and the youngest member of the team. Out of the seven-member team, three were professors and four were students.
Amid growing concerns, global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas.
Stating that it took four months to identify the structure of the virus, speaking to a leading daily, Sirohi said, "During the period of the research, we barely slept for two to three hours a day, but our hard work finally paid off. This discovery will help doctors and researchers to find a cure for the deadly disease that has been reported in 33 countries."
Devika also said that the structure will help in creating effective anti-viral treatments and vaccines. She will be submitting her thesis by the end of this year.
Devika completed her schooling from Dayawati Modi Academy, honours in biochemistry from Delhi University and MSc from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai
Her father SS Sirohi, a pathologist based in Delhi, said he was proud not just because his daughter was part of the project, but that India was part of the breakthrough.
Zika is carried by mosquitoes, which transmit the virus to humans. Zika has not been proven to cause microcephaly in babies, but there is growing evidence that suggests a link. The condition is defined by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems.
Brazil said it has confirmed more than 860 cases of microcephaly, and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating more than 4,200 additional suspected cases of microcephaly.
