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Asked by each1yang to Simon, rosiewatts, Philippa H, janemusson, Hannah on 26 Mar 2025.
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Hannah Blyth answered on 26 Mar 2025:
Because I am a scientist who studies a particular fungal wheat disease, so forgive me for focussing on plants rather than medicine!
Fighting diseases in plants can be challenging; by the time we see them in farmers fields, it is often already too late to fight. Plants have natural defenses, and by understanding how they work, we can develop new ways to protect them from diseases. It’s like solving a puzzle—figuring out how the disease affects the plant and finding the right tools to help the plant stay healthy. It’s a tough job, but it’s crucial for ensuring we have enough food and healthy ecosystems.
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Comments
melissau commented on :
In the veterinary world it can be hard to fight diseases depending on how the animals live and the country in which they live as there may be different diseases in different countries. If the animals live in a group, such as farmed animals, disease may spread easily between individual animals. If animals roam freely, like domestic cats, it can be hard to fight diseases due to the cats coming into contact with other cats without the owner knowing. If it’s a disease for which there is a vaccine, then that can be very helpful of course, as vets we rely on owners choosing to vaccinate their animals to prevent them getting infected – some vaccines may need to be renewed regularly, so again, we rely on owners continuing to vaccinate throughout the animal’s lifetime.