The Key to Ending Cancer Is Not A Cure

Abstract

Cancer is well on its way to becoming the number one cause of death worldwide, and the race towards a cure is more akin to an ultramarathon than the five-hundred-meter dash everyone thinks it is. But, perhaps all hope for eradicating cancer from human civilization does not rest on a miraculous cure – perhaps cancer prevention can play a larger role than what is currently believed. Cancer prevention has been around for quite some time in a wide variety of methods, such as vaccinations, screenings, and changes in lifestyle choices. New research has pointed to a rather promising method of cancer prevention: gene editing. Through use of a system called the CRISPR-CAS9, human genetics can be altered to prevent and potentially destroy cancer cells in the body. The CRISPR-CAS9 system is still relatively new in the field of cancer research, and consequently there is more research to be done, but this system could change the very future of cancer in humans.