Thursday, September 23, 2010
Cuban science on the down-low
Cuban molecular immunologists developed an anti-cancer drug called Nimotuzumab, used in the treatment of advanced esophagus, head and brain tumors, and are now building a huge new plant to increase production. Yet few people will ever realize the origin of this apparently extremely important drug, because the (non-Cuban, no doubt thanks to the U.S. blockade) company that appears to be in charge of worldwide licensing of the drug, YM BioSciences, avoids mentioning Cuba in its press releases, and you have to dig really deep into its website to find any mention of the Center for Molecular Immunology in Havana where the drug was developed.
Just one more consequence of the blockade, which in this instance results in "normal people" (average news consumers) never hearing positive news stories about Cuba. The negative ones? They definitely hear those, even though a story like this has far more relevance to the average person than a story about alleged political prisoners. What the latter story has going for it is its far greater value to the world's capitalists, as they continue their vitally necessary (to them) efforts to discredit socialism, lest their system of capitalism be exposed as the emperor with no clothes.
