A year ago a footage emerged from a remote village in India . The video showed a young girl receiving surgery to separate her fingers, which were badly burned and fused together. Why did this operation make headlines around the world? The surgery was performed by a 7-year-old boy named Akrit Jaswal. Now 13 years old, Akrit has an IQ of 146 and is considered the smartest person his age in India -a country of more than a billion people. Before Akrit could even speak, his parents say they knew he was special.
‘He learned very fast,’ says Raksha, Akrit’s mother. ‘After learning the alphabet, we started to teach him joining of words, and he started writing as well. He was two.’
At an age when most children are learning their ABCs, Akrit was reading Shakespeare and assembling a library of medical textbooks. When he was 5 years old, he enrolled in school. One year later, Akrit was teaching English and math classes.
Akrit developed a passion for science and anatomy at an early age. Doctors at local hospitals took notice and started allowing him to observe surgeries when he was 6 years old. Inspired by what he saw, Akrit read everything he could on the topic. When an impoverished family heard about his amazing abilities, they asked if he would operate on their daughter for free. Her surgery was a success.
After the surgery, Akrit was hailed as a medical genius in India . Neighbors and strangers flocked to him for advice and treatment. At age 11, Akrit was admitted to Punjab University .. He’s the youngest student ever to attend an Indian university. That same year, he was also invited to London ’s famed Imperial College to exchange ideas with scientists on the cutting edge of medical research.
Akrit says he has millions of medical ideas, but he’s currently focused on developing a cure for cancer. ‘I’ve developed a concept called oral gene therapy on the basis of my research and my theories,’ he says. ‘I’m quite dedicated towards working on this mechanism.’
Growing up, Akrit says he used to see cancer patients lying on the side of the road because they couldn’t afford treatment or hospitals had no space for them. Now, he wants to use his intellect to ease their suffering. ‘[I’ve been] going to hospitals since the age of 6, so I have seen firsthand people suffering from pain,’ he says. ‘I get very sad, and so that’s the main motive of my passion about medicine, my passion about cancer.’
Currently, Akrit is working toward a bachelor’s degrees in zoology, botany and chemistry. Someday, he hopes to continue his studies at Harvard University .
译文:
13岁的医学天才
一年前有这么一卷来自印度偏远乡村的影片。
这部影像带给大家的是：一名年轻的女孩接受手指分离的手术，接受分离是因严重烧伤而熔融在一起的手指。为什么这样一项手术可以在世界各地成为新闻头条呢？答案是这项手术是由年仅7岁的男孩Akrit Jaswal进行的。
Akrit今年13岁，智商146，在拥有十亿人口的印度国家，被认为是同龄人中最为聪明的。Akrit的父母表示，在Akrit能说话前，他们就已经认识他的与众不同。
“他学得极快”，Akrit的母亲Raksha说。“学完字母表后，我们就开始教他连词，以及书写。当时的他就两岁。”
当大部分同龄的孩子还在学习ABC时，Akrit就开始阅读莎士比亚和汇编一个图书馆的医学教科书了。他五岁入学。一年后，Akrit就能进行英语和数学课程的教学。
在很小的时候，Akrit就表现出了对科学和解剖学极大的兴趣。当地医院的医生察觉到这一点，在Akrit六岁的时候就开始让他旁观外科手术。他的灵感就来源于他所看见的，在一个专题上他能尽其所能的阅读每一个相关的知识。一个贫困的家庭在听说了他的惊人能力后，便询问Akrit是否能够帮他们的女儿免费做一个外科手术。最终手术完满成功了。
术后，Akrit被称为是印度的医学天才。邻里或是陌生人都络绎不绝的来找他咨询和治疗。在Akrit十一岁的时候被旁遮普大学录取...而他成为印度大学有史以来入学最年轻的学生。同年，他还被邀请到伦敦著名的帝国学院同顶尖科学研究人员进行学术交流。
Akrit说他有太多的医学想法，不过他最近正全身心的投入到一项癌症治愈疗法的开发当中。“基于我所做的研究和理论，我已经树立出了一个名为口腔基因疗法的观念”他说，“我全身心的投入到这一原理的运作中。”
Akrit说他过去经常看到一些因没钱治疗或医院无法提供病床的原因导致癌症病患在路边奄奄一息。现在，他想要用他的智慧来化解病痛。“六岁开始，我就一直在医院（见习），因而我亲眼目睹了那些被病痛折磨的人们。”他说“我感到很伤心，而这就是我对医学产生浓厚兴趣的主要原因，尤其是对癌症的关注超乎寻常。”
现在，Akrit正在攻读动物学，植物学和生物学的学士学位。他希望会有那么一天可以在哈佛大学继续研读。