How do you think your research will change the world for the better?

Question: How do you think your research will change the world for the better?
- Keywords:
  future,
  research
Asked by anon-33496 to Lyn, Katy, Paul, PB, Ruth on 20 Jun 2013. This question was also asked by zolfikar, evemackley, letoast.
- Peter Balfe answered on 20 Jun 2013:
  
  We all think our work matters, otherwise why do it?
  Most of us here are simply having a wild time, doing science and changing the world. It just takes a long time. Some of the work I did in 1990 is only really having impact now!
  Pink Floyd? Everything we do is “just another brick in the wall…” But with all of us doing it, we eventually build some impressive edifices!
- Ruth Mitchell answered on 20 Jun 2013:
  
  I hope that eventually the research in my lab will lead to a more target treatment for multiple sclerosis. But research is slow and I might only be working in this for three years and then change topics to, say, another disease. In which case I hope that my research adds to the pool of knowledge out there that other people pull form to help make the world a better place.
- Ee Lyn Lim answered on 20 Jun 2013:
  
  I’m hoping that, if my research works, in the future people won’t be scared of cancer anymore. Cancer is so scary because 1) we don’t really know how to cure it yet, and 2) the treatment is dangerous!
  
  The methods we most commonly use to treat cancer right now are chemotherapy, which uses chemicals, and radiotherapy, which uses radiation. Both chemicals and radiation are good at killing cancer cells, but they also kill a lot of your normal healthy cells too! That’s why cancer patients lose their hair, and become really thin and pale – it’s actually the effect of the treatment, rather than the cancer itself. Some patients become so weak that they have to stop having treatment, because it might kill them even before the cancer does. Isn’t it strange that we’re making people sick even though we’re trying to make them better?
  
  That’s why I’m doing research into a new way of treating cancer – rather than attacking the cancer directly with poisonous chemicals and radiation, why not help your own body fight the cancer itself? I’m trying to find a drug that will make the immune system ‘wake up’, recognise and kill JUST the cancer cells, without damaging the healthy cells around it. Not only will that be an effective way to treat cancer, it will also take away the horror associated with cancer treatment, so in the future people with cancer can really just focus on getting better!
- Katy Brown answered on 21 Jun 2013:
  
  Nearly all scientific research has the potential to change the world, even if it’s only slightly. Often, the work which causes the biggest changes is unexpected – people are looking for one thing and find something else.
  My work should help us understand more about our DNA and where the viruses we have today come from. It could also tell us how viruses might behave in the future. The more we understand about these viruses, the stronger our position when we try to treat them.
- Paul Waines answered on 25 Jun 2013:
  
  It will improve the quality of our water supply, preventing a lot of diseases which really should not be a problem to us in this day and age

Question: How do you think your research will change the world for the better?

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