Hi, Hopeful -
Reading this article:
<
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=31073>
I was struck by the generosity of the Euro grant money to the U. of Leicester for some much-needed BASIC research. There are so many core beareas in cancer research that warrant further investigation - like this project, to look at the role of free radicals in cancer, aging, and other conditions. Thank goodness that some governing bodies see basic research as a worthy investment!
To me, it's obvious that fundamental investigation is NOT going to be funded by pharmaceutical interests - it is too distant a line of study to produce a profitable outcome in the short term - a corporate bottom line.
Since the U.S. gov't has continually cut basic scientific research funding, and costs of research continue to rise, I think it's highly unlikely that solid basic research is going to be done in this country. I'm really gladdened that other funding sources, globally, have seen the merit in backing basic research.
Not that I think that anything useful, as far as medical/ nutritional applications of the findings, is going to come out of this in my lifetime. But scientific research is additive - each study builds on the foundation of previous investigations. So there's reason to hope that some day, some useful information may arise from the seeds planted by this kind of seminal research.
Thanks for the link...
(((hugs)))
Sandy in Silicon Valley