• Question: Do you think it is possible for someone to find a cure for a disease (e.g. cancer) without knowing or by accident?

    Asked by Emz to Adrian, Gaia, Jim, Scott, Vicky on 10 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Gaia Andreoletti

      Gaia Andreoletti answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      I am 100% sure!
      Do you know that Pasteur discovered penicillin by accident? He was going to throw away his plates with the experiment that did not work when he found out that something interesting came up instead.
      “Fortune favors the prepared mind” as Pasteur used to say!

    • Photo: Scott Lawrie

      Scott Lawrie answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      When I saw this question I immediately thought of Pasteur and Penicillin, just like Gaia!

      We’re always on the lookout for new cures, and sometimes in unexpected places! For example there are lots of unexplored bits in the rainforest with exotic plants and animals. Sometimes these creatures have bizarrely effective ways of curing diseases; so you could stumble across a wobbly purple flower that magically cures the flu!

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