• Question: Will you discoveries cure cancer?

    Asked by anon-196026 to Sebastian, Paddy, Lee, Jennifer, Fiona, Eleanor on 7 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Paddy Sudhakar

      Paddy Sudhakar answered on 7 Mar 2019:


      I dont work on cancer but on a disease (IBD) which could lead to cancer. So, to answer your question, some of our discoveries in the long run will help prevent cancer – if I may take a big leap.

    • Photo: Fiona Scott

      Fiona Scott answered on 7 Mar 2019:


      The discoveries I have made in my project may help biologists to better understand how a particular enzyme works in different cells – healthy and cancerous – because it isn’t well understood at the moment. We need to shut it down by plugging it with a drug so that in its absence we can work out what jobs in the cell aren’t happening. If one of those jobs is important for the survival of a particular kind of cancer cell then in theory but WAAAAAY off in the future after a lot more work, my work could lead to a new way to treat one or more cancers, but not all cancers. Cancer is a broad term used to describe hundreds of diseases, just like how there are differen’t flavours of flu, there are different flavours of cancer, some easier to treat than others.

      Increasingly some cancers are becoming curable. I’ve had thyroid cancer myself and after 2 operations and a smidge of radiotherapy I’ve been cured for 2.5 years so far!

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