• Question: is it possible to find a cure for all sorts of sicknesses.

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      Asked by anon-287539 on 8 Mar 2021.
      • Photo: Jesko Koehnke

        Jesko Koehnke answered on 8 Mar 2021:

        Short answer: Yes. It takes time, effort, dedication and A LOT of money, but eventually we tend to get there. Sometimes a lot faster than other times, but overall I think we can always get there.

      • Photo: Chris Thomson

        Chris Thomson answered on 9 Mar 2021:

        I think that we can’t really answer that question – as we don’t know enough about the causes of some diseases. As biology research continues, new treatments can be thought of, then we have to invent them, make them safe and then try them out in the clinic. As Jesko says, this costs a lot of money and the failure rate is high. But as time passes, knowledge increases and eventually we will find treatments for disease, if not the cure.

      • Photo: Zahra Rattray

        Zahra Rattray answered on 9 Mar 2021:

        It is, but research costs a lot of money. We need to invest a lot in understanding what causes different diseases that we can’t treat at the moment. There is still a lot to learn about the biology of diseases and we have an even longer path to developing medicines.

      • Photo: Martin McCoustra

        Martin McCoustra answered on 9 Mar 2021:

        That’s an interesting question. If we have an infinite amount of money and time, the answer would probably be yes. But we have to prioritise in curing sickness. That’s why over the last year, we’ve see so much effort on COVID-19 as it has shown itself to be a problem on a global scale. The problem comes is that some viruses and bacteria can change, can mutate, so that the drugs we use stop working. This is happening now with some antibiotics. Many bacterial diseases are now resistant to some antibiotics. This will only get worse and may return us to what it was like before Fleming’s discovery of penicillin.

      • Photo: Phil Thorne

        Phil Thorne answered on 10 Mar 2021:

        It will take a lot of time and effort but all is solvable, eventually. First you need to understand the disease/sickness. Identify what is wrong, what symptoms/effects it is causing and what might help.

      • Photo: Ane Valera

        Ane Valera answered on 10 Mar 2021:

        With the right amount of money and endless time to do research, I don’t want to say 100% but most of them could be cured. Research takes a lot of money, effort and time, and without these resources, we can’t move forward, but we are slowly getting to know how a lot of diseases work and how to attack the cause of the disease. Look at COVID19 case, a lot of public and private money has been gathered in order to do research on vaccines, and in this example, being time a limitation, a lot of advances have been made! So this is a clear example about how science can work to solve disease problems if we have the resources available.

      • Photo: Zuzanna Konieczna

        Zuzanna Konieczna answered on 10 Mar 2021:

        With all the time, effort and money – potentially. A lot depends on our understanding of the disease. Without knowing the real cause, we can only try to make the symptoms go away. It’s much easier when there is a clear target, but even then there is lots to consider! It can take years of research to move from a potential molecule target to a commercially available drug. That being said, there is some amazing progress being made every day, and it’s exciting to watch what understanding we gain and what cures we can uncover!

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