I used to work in Cancer research. Saying “I want to cure cancer” is analogous to saying “I want to cure viruses,” not “I want to cure HIV”.
Having said that, progress has been made for certain types of cancer, just not as fast as anyone would like.
I agree 100% about prioritizing prevention. At the very least, governments could stop subsidizing/mandating the production and use of carcinogens!
For example, California used to mandate extremely high levels of known-carcinogenic flame retardants for furniture, and the result was new forms of cancer that only occur in California. (This was fixed a few years ago, but used furniture, or anything upholstered is crazy-risky.)
It took years for the state senate to act, despite strong scientific evidence. The flame retardant industry had the strongest lobby, but everyone else, from Ikea (and, separately, their factory workers), to fire fighters, to environmental groups were for lifting the mandate.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of analogous stories are playing out today.
Just yesterday, I read that general mills (and also nature valley) use roundup as a pre-harvest desiccant to kill and dry out oats before harvest, leading to ridiculously high levels of glyphosate in kids cereal (like Cheerios) and “healthy” granola bars.
Best practice for non-organic farming is to apply herbicides well before harvest so they can break down / wash off the final product. Spraying during harvest should be criminalized!
Having said that, progress has been made for certain types of cancer, just not as fast as anyone would like.
I agree 100% about prioritizing prevention. At the very least, governments could stop subsidizing/mandating the production and use of carcinogens!
For example, California used to mandate extremely high levels of known-carcinogenic flame retardants for furniture, and the result was new forms of cancer that only occur in California. (This was fixed a few years ago, but used furniture, or anything upholstered is crazy-risky.)
It took years for the state senate to act, despite strong scientific evidence. The flame retardant industry had the strongest lobby, but everyone else, from Ikea (and, separately, their factory workers), to fire fighters, to environmental groups were for lifting the mandate.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of analogous stories are playing out today.
Just yesterday, I read that general mills (and also nature valley) use roundup as a pre-harvest desiccant to kill and dry out oats before harvest, leading to ridiculously high levels of glyphosate in kids cereal (like Cheerios) and “healthy” granola bars.
Best practice for non-organic farming is to apply herbicides well before harvest so they can break down / wash off the final product. Spraying during harvest should be criminalized!