There is usually one word that is attached to Fiji: paradise. Perfect weather, perfect beaches and the perfect place to forget about all of your worries. But now Fiji could be attached to a new word: discovery.
Scientists are running to Fiji to find new habitats that potentially have anti-cancer, anti-malaria and antibacterial drugs. These groups are going to places where beds, electricity and dependable drinking water are non-existent. They fight off sharks and eat poisonous food to examine coral, seaweed and other marine animals. For one group, a table was used to butcher meat, catalog data, eat dinner and also use a bed. With this research, there is an increased rate of discovering possible medicines. They have even found 33 previously unknown bioactive molecules from red seaweed, and these molecules can be the answer to developing particular drugs.
This type of discovery is a significant step in the scientific and medical communities. Though the drugs have to go back to labs for testing and be approved by the appropriate communities, there is still a possibility of finding drugs to help detrimental diseases currently claiming too many lives. Scientists are constantly discovering new species of animals, and with each discovery, there are endless possibilities to what these species could do to help the world. These scientists are also willing to go to great lengths to find new discoveries. They are going up against a bull shark that could attack at any minute; eating a fish that could be poisonous; diseases that could claim their lives.
Some sort of credit should be given to these men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line to discovery new drugs. There should also be credit to institutes and foundations that help fund the research needed to complete these explorations. Institutes such as the National Institutes of Health have a hand in getting lab study results patented, thus giving a chance for them to become important drugs.
Just imagine decades ago when scientists were discovering a way to prevent people from getting polio, small pox and other detrimental diseases killing off sections of the population. More hospitals and labs should donate money to these scientists work in remote places. Even if they cannot donate money, donating supplies and more equipment could have an immense effect on the research being done. The more we support these causes, the more of a possibility of finding a cure for cancer with these drugs.
Someday, we might see Fiji as more than a vacation destination. We can call it a place of discovery and a place of a scientific revolution.
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