• Question: hello. me and my buddies were wondering, how do you feel about the development of cures for cancer? also do you think scientist should proceed?x thanks.. samii, liam and nath :D

    Asked by samiimarie to Alice JB, Andy, Barbara, James, Jo on 19 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Barbara Guinn

      Barbara Guinn answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I think if we can treat people (kids, young adults and older people) so they can enjoy their life and spend more time being with their families then as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else it should be a good thing. We don’t know which person will help us deal with climate change, make the next superb invention (time travel or rapid learning without school) or save someone’s life in a road accident or help someone in need, and so every life, whether that of an inventor, a life saver or a member of the public, is important. Of course everyone has the right to refuse treatment.
      But medics are not allowed to try treatments on patients until a panel of experts (doctors, nurses) and interested members of the public have approved it. Most research is funded following detailed grant applications where a panel of expert review each persons proposed work. At the moment only 10-20% of all applications are funded so it’s hard getting funding to do research and your work has to be of a high quality and ethical. Most scientists are like any other population, well-meaning members of society who I believe want the best for patients and society. I hope when we chose to proceed with research we, our reviewers and the patients do so in an informed way – understanding and having considered the consequences of our actions.

    • Photo: Alice Jones Bartoli

      Alice Jones Bartoli answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I think the development for curing cancer is pretty much one of the most difficult and important jobs scientists can do. Our bodies are amazing – they keep everything in check, but sometimes it goes wrong, and this might result in cancer. Something like 1 in 3 people will have some sort of cancer in their lives – that’s definitely someone that we all know.

      Having had family and friends die of cancer, I am really aware of how awful the disease is, and of the brilliant work that is done by scientists who work to understand how cancer happens, and how it might be stopped. It’s definitely not a straight-forward job, and it’s likely to take a long time before it can be cured easily, but things are improving – more people are surviving, and that can only be a good thing.

    • Photo: James Jennings

      James Jennings answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      Ethical issues are often brought up if new cures for cancer are being pursued by testing on animals. You probably know of the classic “mouse running in a maze” type experiment. This is similar to what often goes on in researching the cures for cancer, though it is inevitable that mice will die in this case. Weighing the cost of many mice lives to that of one human can be an uncomfortable sum for scientists to have to work out.

      I would have to say that I have no problem with this kind of testing, especially if the test is for a drug that could potentially cure a disease as widespread as cancer. However, when it comes to animal testing cosmetic products such as shampoos and skin creams, I think the opposite. As scientists, we often get faced with tough ethical decisions such as this, and we must deal with them carefully. There will always be alot of people who don’t agree with our methods, even if we have the best intentions!

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