What are the implications of your research?

Question: What are the implications of your research?
- Keywords:
  how science works,
  research
Asked by shreedesai to Lyn, Katy, Paul, PB, Ruth on 14 Jun 2013.
- Paul Waines answered on 14 Jun 2013:
  
  My main research- looking at bacterial contamination of water systems- is used by people in the water industry and the government to help them make decisions about what materials they should use and how they should use it, in order to prevent disease outbreaks, particularly in hospitals. It also helps them to give the correct advice to their customers (I hope!).
- Ee Lyn Lim answered on 14 Jun 2013:
  
  The coolest thing about my research is that I could eventually develop a cure for cancer! Now – this isn’t QUITE as legendary as it might sound – there are already many many treatments that are being used to help cancer patients. None of these are called a ‘cure’, because most of them only work on some types of cancer and not others, and many patients who receive these treatment have a relapse (the cancer comes back again) after a few years. Even worse, some of the treatments used in the clinics now make the patient even more sick, because they use deadly chemicals or radiation (you’ll have seen how people become really thin and weak, or how their hair falls out!).
  
  My project is one small part of a huge effort to change the way we treat cancer, so instead of try to zap the cancer cells from the outside we try and help our body fight back from the inside, by giving our immune system a good boost. It’s hard to say how effective as a ‘cure’ it will be, but we are hoping that it will be better at getting to the root of the problem, and that it certainly won’t cause the terrible side effects!
- Peter Balfe answered on 14 Jun 2013:
  
  Last year Cancer Research UK predicted a 39% increase in liver cancer by 2030. Almost all of that increase will be due to the viruses I work on.
  Our work is part of a global effort which is going to make sure their prediction is wrong! Not bad eh?
- Katy Brown answered on 14 Jun 2013:
  
  I study ancient viruses which infected monkeys and apes millions of years ago and are related to HIV. I find out what they looked like, how they behaved, and how they passed between different animals. By knowing these things about historic viruses, we can find more about modern viruses and what they might do in the future.
- Ruth Mitchell answered on 17 Jun 2013:
  
  My research will ultimately lead to a new treatment being found for multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the nerves no longer conduct messages(like telling you to walk) because the myelin around them is broken down. Currently the treatments available suppress the whole immune system(which is worrying if you catch for example a bug that makes you sick because your body can no longer fight it!). The treatment I’m looking at creates a tolerance to the myelin around the nerves directly.

Question: What are the implications of your research?

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