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Essential question
How is the challenge to cure cancer similar and different from the 1960s challenge to land a person on the moon?In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama announced a new American initiative to cure cancer. The president appointed Vice President Joe Biden, who lost his son Beau Biden to brain cancer last year, to head the effort to foster collaboration among scientists and improve funding for cancer research. Cancers can take many forms, so finding a cure for one type will not be the solution for all cancer patients, according to Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society Dr. Otis Brawley. With more research, treatment for other types of cancers will improve to the point where they become more like chronic illness such as diabetes, Brawley said. Katie Couric, a prominent journalist who created the organization Stand Up to Cancer after losing her first husband and sister to cancer, said Congress should provide more federal funding for the effort, but she hopes the nation’s private sector and individual donors will also step up.
Key terms
cancer — a disease caused by the division of abnormal cells in a part of the body and often results in tumors genome — an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genesWarm up questions ( before watching the video)
- What do you know about the different types of cancer?
- Who is responsible for funding cancer research?
- What breakthroughs have scientists already made when it comes to cancer research?
Critical thinking questions ( after watching the video)
- Why is funding for cancer research such a vital part of finding a cure?
- Why does Katie Couric believe that collaboration between different organizations is key to finding a cure for cancer?
- Do you think it is realistic to say that we will find a cure for cancer? Why or why not?
- Why do you think President Obama asked Vice President Joe Biden to lead the charge to cure cancer? How do you think Biden feels about his assignment?
