Interview of David Axelrod on Cancer Research

           The disease of cancer has been becoming more common within the past years. With no absolute cure, “cancer” is a word that no one wants to hear come out of his or her doctor’s mouth. Scientists all over the world have been studying cancer cells to attempt at finding a cure. One scientist, David Axelrod, does that here at Rutgers University. Professor Axelrod studies the way that cancer cells interact with normal cells and tries to determine when they transform into cancer cells. He has worked with breast cancer cells in the past, but most recently he is focusing his work on colon cancer. The research that David Axelrod and other scientists perform, help us understand the mutations of normal cells into cancer cells and could possibly lead to better treatment methods.

            
         Many people enter into the field of cancer research because they want to find a cure, or because they know someone who had cancer. Surprisingly, David Axelrod did not enter the genetics/cancer field for either of those reasons. 
“There were a lot of opportunities available with microorganisms, and I found them to be interesting. It wasn’t that I thought I could help people”, David Axelrod said. The fact that he is performing this research simply because he finds it interesting and enjoyable is somewhat inspiring to the youth. Yes, it would be great to have a job that helps people, but the best career a person can hope for is one where they find their work both interesting and stimulating. A person like David Axelrod, performing research simply because he finds in interesting brings the world closer to understanding the way in which cancer cells operate.  If someone researches cancer just because they want to help people, that doesn’t mean they also find their work stimulating.  In order for results to appear, we need scientists who research because they have a passion for it.  We need researchers who find their everyday work to be both enjoyable and interesting with no alternative motive.  One such researcher is David Axelrod at Rutgers University.