If we found a cure for Cancer so many people would be out of a job…
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Well I’d rather be on the dole than suffer from that dastly disease,
Discuss
I actually work on related things (Parkinson’s), and yeah it’s true to an extent. I would be out of a job, particularly as PD, Alzheimer’s and cancers are looking more and more related and intertwined. I’m a scientist though, and if I was in it for the money I wouldn’t be working at a university… I’d be in the biotech field. They make twice the money, work far fewer hours and have great benefits. BUT, they don’t have the flexibility in work that I have.
The underlying issue with research is biotech companies imo. Parkinson’s research doesn’t have the research backing as much as cancer does as it’s still not a profitable disease. Yes, it’s a crude word, but if you don’t have enough customers, why should you spend money on the damn thing? This is literally the view-point of biotech companies. Thankfully as we are getting older and older, living longer and longer, biotech is getting more and more customers. So in the next 20 or so years, there will be a push from the biotech side to invest in Parkinson’s research.
Aside from that, I would say that in the next 20-30 years we will have some real insight and means of tackling cancers and neurodegenerative diseases, and issues with biotech companies will become pretty overwhelming. They’re allready overcharging for drugs that save people’s lives, and like it or not, it’s going to continue. It’s to the extent that the US healthcare system is, and it’s going to stay that way until a concerted effort is made by the government(s) to control drug production, control and research.
I should probably phrase this better, but brainfarting is also ok I guess.