I stress the relevance of my work for cancer research because I believe that science must be useful to man.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Cancer affects everyone, and it's up to all of us to support the important research that can one day make a much sought-after cure a reality.
I had no specific bent toward science until my grandfather died of cancer. I decided nobody should suffer that much.
I've kind of got an out in cancer. It keeps things in perspective for me.
The research I have been doing - studying how foodstuffs yield energy in living cells - does not lead to the kind of knowledge that can be expected to give immediate practical benefits to mankind. If I have chosen this field of study, it was because I believed in its importance in spite of its theoretical character.
We may have to learn to live with cancer rather than die of it. It means a big change in our mindset and how we do research. We haven't quite reached there yet.
I've always been on the side of science that tries to help man. I play an active part with the foundations I'm involved in. Science gives hope.
I wanted to explore cancer not just biologically, but metaphorically. The idea that tuberculosis in the 19th century possessed the same kind of frightening and decaying quality was very interesting to me, and it seemed that one could explore the idea that every age defined its own illness.
Although the elusive 'cure' may be a distant dream, understanding the true nature of cancer will enable it to be better controlled and less menacing.
In the frantic search for an elusive 'cure,' few researchers stand back and ask a very basic question: why does cancer exist? What is its place in the grand story of life?
Science is to do research because of the target's fascinating and interesting characteristics.