• Question: As penicillin was created on accident is it likely that the cures for common diseases are right in front of us and around us ?

    Asked by item42pie to Sudhin, Sergio, Katie, Frances, Diarmuid, Aoife on 19 Nov 2019.
    • Photo: Frances Shiely

      Frances Shiely answered on 19 Nov 2019:

      Yes and no. It’s a difficult one to answer. Some research is technical and some is like you say, right there. For instance, we know that physical activity prevents obesity which leads to heart disease. But just because people know that, it still doesn’t mean they will follow it. So the ‘cure’ is right there but we can ‘t seem to get people to change their behaviour!

    • Photo: Katie Fala

      Katie Fala answered on 21 Nov 2019:

      Great question! It probably depends on the disease and cure. In my field, there is a great interest in microbiomes as sources of new drugs, because the microbes living in these communities have evolved alongside oneanother and are likely to possess mechanisms to compete with their neighbours to ensure their own survival. Because bacteria are pretty much everywhere, I ‘d like to think that new exciting molecules and therapies could be around us or inside us, encoded in the DNA of the bacteria, and that we can harness these to use in medicine and food science. On the other hand, some diseases are very complex and involve multiple factors – such as cancer or diabetes. I think that due to their complexity, any cure is likely to be similiarly complex, and require human innovation and pushing the boundaries of technology. Time will tell!

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