We should be so lucky?
Two news stories have caught my eye recently: Kylie Minogue's superstar status has meant that her contracting breast cancer has brought the disease to the fore; and, in the second big medical story, national newspaper columnists and the medical correspondents were scrapping over column inches to talk about human cloning and its implications.
Everyone has huge sympathy for Ms Minogue, and the exposure of her disease in the mass media can only serve to positively benefit those looking for funding to find a cancer cure or vaccine - and not just for breast cancer. That said, a survey of EU member states suggests that Europe could lose some of its most talented cancer experts to the US unless funding on research is doubled. You would think, given the nature of the beast, that those involved in fighting cancer would be working with governments to ensure the maximum amount of revenue, but this is not the case. The report from The European Cancer Research Managers Forum (ECRMF) said that a 'brain-drain' of top scientists could damage patient care, and the survey found that EU member states spend seven times less per person on cancer research than the US. It also found that European research focuses on the biology of cancer, rather than the development of treatments and preventative strategies; and is heavily reliant on funding from the charitable sector.
Image problems are also haunting the human cloning debate.
News that UK scientists have cloned a human embryo will no doubt be greeted positively by many readers of this magazine, but the wider public are more sceptical about such developments, and with right-to-life groups already signalling their disapproval, the battle will not be fought in the laboratory, but in 'The Sun'. Emotive phrases such as 'to seek to cure diseases by eliminating early human beings..' are already appearing in the mass media; yet certain ethicists insist that it would be immoral to not proceed.
As with many things involving science, the most the general public tend to know about the subject is the pseudo-science seen in popular culture, such as Dr Who. The problem is that in most cases, the scientists are either portrayed as megalomaniacs, or as living in their own isolated world.
The scientists undertaking the human embryo work will have to show that such work is in the public interest: that a cure for terrible diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which decimate the lives of many families - not just individuals, but families - can be found with the aid of cloning in a shorter time period than current research can achieve. But even then they need do that bit more - to show the positive medical aspects of what some see as eugenics.