• Question: What would the biggest brake-through within the next 5-10 years, you would hope for?

    Asked by itslorraining to Emma, James, Jayne, Kara, Sharon on 23 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Emma King

      Emma King answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Hi itslorraining – my biggest hope for the next ten years is that the two trials which have just started – one in the US and one in the UK – will be completed successfully without harm to any of the participants. If they can show the cells are safe – and even more if they can show they actually work then that would help pave the way for future trials. So quite a small wish but I think it will be the opening of the floodgates for other therapies.

    • Photo: Sharon Sneddon

      Sharon Sneddon answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Hi itslorraining,

      If I could hope for anything, I would love for a cure for cystic fibrosis to be found in the next 5-10 years. At present, there is no cure for this disease, and people that have it tend to get very ill and require a lung transplant, they often only suvive until they are 20-30 years old. Although trials are being done,and new medicines exist to keep people healthy for a longer time, not much progress has been towards a cure. I feel really passionate about this as my 5 year old nephew has CF and it would be so good if he could look forward to a long healthy life!

    • Photo: Kara Cerveny

      Kara Cerveny answered on 22 Mar 2011:

      Thanks for the question itslorraining. I would hope that in the next 5-10 years we would see more emphasis on personalized medicine and the ability to use genetic and genomic information to treat all types of illnesses. I would also hope that stem cell biology would be a big part of this, especially with some of the efforts aimed at using patient derived stem cells.

    • Photo: James Chan

      James Chan answered on 22 Mar 2011:

      Hi Lorraine. I really hope that my research on how to get broken bones to heal quicker will be the next big break through!! Totally selfish, I know! BUT actually, think how many people you know of who have broken bones. There’re millions of people who can benefit from this. We’ve worked out how to do this in mice so our next step is to try in humans! Watch out!!

    • Photo: Jayne Charnock

      Jayne Charnock answered on 23 Mar 2011:

      Various cancer therapies are looking very promising at the moment and that gives alot of hope to alot of people.

      In my area of work we really hope to have found a viable method for speeding up wound healing in people with chronic wounds. Personally though, I suffer from MS, so i hope someone will come up with a better treatment for preventing the illness getting worse and for helping patients get better much faster after a relapse!

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