• Question: do you not get depressed with working with dead people xx

    Asked by alysha to Hitesh, Hywel, Mae, Nik, Tiffany on 14 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Nicola Ibberson

      Nicola Ibberson answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      I work with tissues from dead people sometimes, if the doctors suspect that they may have had a genetic disease. It is sad, yes, but by testing them we might find something that allows us to test other family members to see whether they are likely to get the same disease. If they are, then we can put treatments in place that will hopefully mean that they can live a long and happy life.

      If it was a tiny baby that died, we can help their parents to find out whether the disease that killed their first baby is likely to kill any of their babies in the future, and if it is, we can offer them special testing of any future pregnancies to make sure they only have liveborn children that are healthy.

      So it isn’t depressing at all, because it gives families hope and choice 🙂

    • Photo: Hywel Owen

      Hywel Owen answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      I don’t work directly with dead people, nor with live people actually. It is difficult to see people with advanced cancers, and that is part of the motivation for what I do. We’d like to make better machines for treating cancer so that fewer people do die of it. Although science and medicine has come a long way from its infancy only about 200 years ago, we’re still at the early stages of finding out how bodies work. I am sure that in your lifetime there will be amazing changes in what we can do, cancer treatment being just one of those things.

    • Photo: Hitesh Dave

      Hitesh Dave answered on 21 Jun 2012:

      Nope, You will definitely find different people around you when working; but If you are well focussed on your task and good motivator in the lab; even dead people can become alive..that’s what my belief is..:-)

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