I am currently taking part in the trials of the new stage of treatment by Nivolumab, which has a damn good chance of curing or at least controlling the renal cancer I was diagnosed with three months ago. In the inevitable long periods of waiting around I started to wonder:
1) Suppose an absolute cure for all forms of cancer were to be discovered now, would the manufacturers be able to maintain a monopoly, or would their high cost lead to international-scale piracy and political tension, or worse?
2) Suppose it had been discovered in around 1945. What effects would this have on history? George VI alive for many more decades? Sickle-cell anemia cured. Effect on the black community?
1) Suppose an absolute cure for all forms of cancer were to be discovered now, would the manufacturers be able to maintain a monopoly, or would their high cost lead to international-scale piracy and political tension, or worse?
2) Suppose it had been discovered in around 1945. What effects would this have on history? George VI alive for many more decades? Sickle-cell anemia cured. Effect on the black community?