Personal Statement

Medicine is the science of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illnesses. Under the umbrella of medicine, there is surgery, therapies, or just medication. While most of them help the body, they can also hurt the body in the process. To me, medicine should have the ability to help people without causing harm.

My passion for medicine began at the age of 7 when my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. He was given chemotherapy and radiation to get rid of the cancer, but it only made him sicker. I remember him losing weight, hair and even his appetite. I felt helpless wishing to change things, wishing to have my grandpa back. Within months, the cancer had spread out of control, and he was dead. All it needed was 6 months to kill a perfectly

I wanted to know what it would have taken to save him. I researched ways to cure cancer but failed to know what cancer really is and how it works. For a year, all I did was research about cures for cancer. Later, when more members of my grandfather’s family were diagnosed with cancer, my point of view changed. I realized that if there was a cure for cancer, then my grandfather and others would have gotten the cure. I began to research about what cancer is, its causes, and how it works. Soon, I understood that cancer is mutated cells with an unending lifespan and the ability to multiply at an alarming rate causing tumors and other forms of problems. While surgery is the common treatment for tumors, most patients with cancer die while undergoing surgery as the human body is a complex and delicate system. One wrong cut can cost someone their life. My grandfather was a man who didn’t want to take that risk, So, he refused surgery and only used chemotherapy and radiation to reduce the size of his tumors. While those treatments reduced the cancer, they weakened him in the process. I kept wishing that there would be

Some of the major breakthroughs are gene therapies. Scientists can use CRISPR/Cas 9 to target and edit the mutated genes in cancer cells to behave like a normal cell or in any way they want. Scientists have 6666666666666 also use deactivate HIV to help build the immunity of cancer patients, but the cancer was still not cured. In addition, scientists have also used stem cells through transplants to help cure cancer patients. Although these treatments have shown to help, they are not a cure. In recent years, scientists have found that an increased expression of the Parp 14 gene in cancer cells is found to aid glycolysis. This gene helps cancer cells get energy even when there is a low glucose intake. Scientist suspect that if they could lower the expression of this gene in cancer, they could starve the cancer cells. Although they have this theory, they don’t have a clear way to accomplish this. Although scientists have made many advancements, there is still no 100% cure for