In fast moving fields like cancer, where doctors tailor treatments based on evidence that's constantly evolving, two years can be an eternity of waiting to learn about important science. For some patients, that interval can be fatal.
Interpretation
In rapidly advancing medical fields like cancer treatment, waiting for research results can have dire consequences for patients.
This quote emphasizes the urgency of advancements in cancer research and treatment, highlighting how the fast-paced evolution of medical knowledge can significantly impact patient outcomes. For individuals battling cancer, delays in receiving new evidence or treatment options within just a two-year span can mean the difference between life and death, reflecting the critical nature of timely medical progress.
In practice
In a conference on cancer research, this quote highlights the urgency of rapid advancements needed in treatment.
Science offers the chance to cure debilitating and once-intractable disorders like hemophilia and sickle cell disease. But we need to make sure the ability to access these therapies, or the risk that someone can be locked out of them, doesn't widen gaps between the rich and poor.
It is true that some off-label drug use is based on very unsettled science and has more risks. But medicine - and not just cancer care - involves lots of hard choices. And the more serious the disorder, often the more likely it is that for every right and wrong treatment choice there are many other practical decisions painted in shades of gray.
We need to make sure that access to a curative drug doesn't become a yardstick by which poverty is eventually measured. Doing so requires a shared commitment between innovators and the insurance plans that are harder pressed to offer these advances to the poor.
The separation of science and non-science is not only artificial but also detrimental to the advancement of knowledge. If we want to understand nature, if we want to master our physical surroundings, then we must use all ideas, all methods, and not just a small selection of them.
When it comes to the things that people really want in science fiction - like space travel - the simplest things end up causing them not to happen. Humans are 100-pound bags of water, built to live on Earth.
There's no such thing as saying that we'll ever find the ultimate cause of stuff. We can only work to push our understanding one step further.
Now is not the time to gut these job-creating investments in science and innovation. Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race.
Receiving the National Medal of Science is the thrill of a lifetime, but good science does not happen in isolation.
I have experimental evidence that time travel is not possible.
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