The Young Medical Genius

Akrit Jaswal (born April 23, 1993) is an Indian adolescent who has been hailed as a child

prodigy who has gained fame in his native India as a physician, despite never having

attended medical school. He gained fame for performing surgery at the age of seven. He

is a Hindu Rajput of Jaswal clan from Punjab.

According to his mother Raksha Kumari Jaswal, Akrit was an early starter, skipped the

toddler stage and started walking. He started speaking in his 10th month and was reading

Shakespeare at the age of 5. At 7, he performed an operation on a 8 year old girl whose

fingers were fused together after being burnt. 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 celebrated 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 a 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 degree in zoology, botany and chemistry. Someday, he hopes to

continue his studies at Harvard University.

He became India's youngest university student and is currently studying for a BSc in a

Punjab University, Chandigarh, India. He possesses books such as Gray's Anatomy, and

textbooks on surgery, anaesthesia, anatomy, physiology, cancer, and others. Akrit claims to

have mastered them with his daily habit of studying for an hour.

He has an estimated IQ of 146 from a single test.

Akrit Jaswal is considered to be a reincarnation in his local village. He is consulted by

neighbours and people from surrounding areas regarding ailments, prescriptions and

courses of treatments. He claims to have been working on a cure for cancer for several

years, based on theories of oral gene therapy. However, his work towards a cure for cancer

was criticised by British doctors and researchers since they claim his understanding on the

topic was vague.

In his spare time, Akrit enjoys playing and watching cricket.

Sponsored and mentored by Mr B. R. Rahi, Chairman of Secondary Education in

Dharamshala, Akrit joined Chandigarh College at the age of 12. According to AcchiKhabre,

he is the youngest student ever accepted by an Indian University. His keenness to find a

cure for cancer brought him global attention and admiration. The ‘Firecracker Films’ in 2005

investigated his story and invited him to London to perform tests. They also asked ‘Team

Focus,’ an organization, to assess the intelligence of the 12-year-old boy. He was featured

on The Oprah Winfrey show as ‘ the little genius.’ There were concerns raised about Akrit’s

fame as a child that may actually have been harmful to him, leading to too much pressure

on him as a child. Akrit denied these claims.

Akrit showed interest in science and anatomy as a child. Since he visited hospitals on a

daily basis, he know the pain of patients. He wants to find a cure for cancer and working

towards it. The Chairman of Secondary Education in Dharmasala, mentored and sponsored

him. He joined Chandigarh College University of Punjab at 12, to pursue his degree. He is

the youngest student accepted by Indian university. At 17, he did his Masters degree in

Chemistry. Now, he is studying Bio Engineering at IIT Kanpur. He is focused, confident and

his research to find cure for cancer continues. We wish him a great success in his life!