Irish student wins BT Young Scientist Prize 2018 for powerful Blackberry antibiotic

Kevin O'Sullivan
The Irish Times
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 10:13 UTC

© N/A

For centuries, herbalists have used the juice of the fruit as an iron tonic and the leaves for dysentery and other bacterial infections of the stomach and elimination pathways.

A 15-year-old student from Co Cork who discovered a natural antibiotic in a blackberry bramble plant in his back garden has won the top prize at the 54th BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

Simon Meehan of Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig, who was declared BT Young Scientist and Technologist of the Year at an awards ceremony in Dublin's RDS on Friday night, found the "non toxic, organic, original antibiotic" after analysing 10 plants widely available in his locality.

"People are going deep into the Amazon rainforest looking for new antibiotics. But I'm a 15-year-old boy who found this down his own back garden. That has got to be amazing," he told The Irish Times.

"I feel, without disrespecting the scientific community too much, that there should be some conclusions from this. We are over-thinking science in too many ways."

His work combined botany, microbiology and analytic chemistry to demonstrate its effectiveness in killing Staphylococcus aureus, a bug that infects humans and is increasingly resistant to antibiotic treatment, especially when it comes in the form of the hospital-acquired infection MRSA. It was also shown to be effective in killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a potentially deadly bug, especially for those with cystic fibrosis.

He extracted anti-microbial agents from aerial parts of plants and their roots using ethanol and then tested their antibiotic effects.

Herbalist

The fourth year student has dedicated his work to his grandfather, Eddie Lucey, a well-known herbalist and science teacher in Bandon. Now 82, he helped people with medical conditions using herbs grown in his back garden; a tradition going back generations in his family.

"He has inspired my work. I am indebted to him for my knowledge."

Simon, who had a framed picture of his grandfather on the display stand for his project, believes he is inheriting that rich tradition but in a different way. He loved botany as a child, he said, and that grew with the help of his teacher Karina Lyne into an avid interest in microbiology. He hopes to go on to a career in pharmaceuticals.

Judge and chair of the biological and ecological sciences category Prof John O'Halloran, said: "This is a really exciting project which explores the possibility of the blackberry leaf extract's ability to control harmful bacteria.

"The unexpected findings deliver a unique approach to killing bacteria using natural plant active ingredients. The rigour of the approach adopted by Simon set his project apart from competitors and made him our overall winner."

Comment: The research is ongoing, but a quick glance on the studies done so far displays an array of potential health benefits of the widespread and common Blackberry plant. One example:

Health-promoting effects and immunity-boosting properties have been attributed to blackberry leaves since long ago. Hippocrates recommended blackberry stems and leaves soaked in white wine for facilitating childbirth [16]. Zia-UI-Haq et al. [25], in their review of the traditional uses of Rubus fruticosus leaves, reported that the decoction of the leaves has been used as tonic and a mouthwash; gargles help treating thrush, gum inflammation, sore throat, and mouth ulcers. The leaves are also chewed in order to strengthen the gums and to cure thrush. A poultice of the leaves is applied to abscesses and skin ulcers as an astringent. In addition, blackberry leaves and roots are a long-standing home remedy for anemia and menses, diarrhea, dysentery, cystitis, and hemorrhoids. Finally, they have traditionally been used against several respiratory problems [19].

Indeed, it has been demonstrated that the leaves of blackberry possess significant antimicrobial activity, higher than the fruit, against several bacterial strains, such as Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Proteus mirabilis, Bacillus subtilis, Citrobacteri sp., and Pseudomonas aeruginosa [25].