Undermining the wholehearted national support for science and technology, an Omani doctor and his team are in the global limelight for groundbreaking scientific innovation.
This Omani medical doctor at Royal Hospital has made his nation proud by bagging the award for the best innovative research project at the prestigious Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting in Germany recently.
Dr Fares bin Abdullah al Farsi and his team won the prize for the best innovative research project in ‘Sciethon’, a science marathon in which more than 27 teams from various countries participated, during the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.
The innovative idea of the doctor—smart biochips—identified and eliminated bacteria that cause infections in chronic wounds and resist bacteria that cause infections in chronic wounds and claimed the top prize after competing with 353 innovations from over 18 countries around the world.
Speaking to the Observer, Dr Al Farsi explained that the slides in the winning project contain microscopic antibodies manufactured in a laboratory and are linked to enzymes and sensors that help identify and eliminate bacteria as they approach the wound site. The sheet will be attached to the areas of the wound, and this will release the enzymes to kill the bacteria.
“We went through different qualification tests at the national as well as international levels before getting selected and competing with thousands of projects, from which they selected only 600 young scientists; hence, you get to meet with even Nobel Prize winners,” he said, adding that “we get to discuss and share knowledge with them throughout the event.
In Sciethon, there were 27 groups with ten participants each from different areas at the level of PHD and post-PHD and those young scientists who propose ideas in medicine.”
The scientific marathon aims to find solutions to medical problems by bringing together experts in medicine, physiology, physics, chemistry, biology, pharmacology, immunology, biomedical and IT engineering, and astrophysics regularly.
The winning project was part of a research team consisting of young scientists from several disciplines and was with the support of the ‘Max Planck’ Foundation in the Federal Republic of Germany. The participating research projects were evaluated by a scientific committee consisting of several Nobel Prize-winning scientists as well as global investors in the field of developing scientific research.
The Oman team’s participation in the 72nd Lindau Nobel laureate meeting came with the support of the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research, and Innovation to represent the Sultanate of Oman among the top 600 young scientists in the medical field, with the participation of more than 40 Nobel Prize-winning scientists.
The winning team consisted of experts from Germany, Oxford, and other major centres including immunology and enzymology, as well as people from pharmacology, software, engineering, and the like.
“We started working on the project from December 2022 until last June, before the presentation day. Our project, a bio sheet that can treat or prevent bacteria from getting into the human system through a wound, will also detect, resist, and antagonise the bacterial infection of the wound.”
It sends a molecule called immunoglobulin or antibody (IGA) that goes and attacks the bacteria, which will rectify the mechanism of the immune system in our body.
“The bonus part is that there won’t be any scar on the wound as it will fade away after the use of the bio sheet, and all the wounds, including any chronic wound, will be healed at the same time because the idea is all about protecting one from infection, which makes the wound worse”.
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