In her piece the Norbury group student examines how the public receives conflicting messages about cancer risk due to different assumptions used as the basis for mathematical modelling in studies, and sloppy and inaccurate media reporting of results.
On winning the prize Jessica said: “I am really delighted to have received a prize for my competition entry! I have always enjoyed writing about my own research, and thought it would be a fun challenge to try a different kind of writing – communicating science to the general public rather than other researchers.”
Explaining the focus of her entry she said: “The piece explores two recent studies on the contribution of external and intrinsic factors to the development of cancer-promoting mutations (and the subsequent contradictory reporting of these studies in the press!).”
In a balanced conclusion Jessica states no one is immune to DNA mutations and developing cancer, but a healthy lifestyle can reduce the frequency of mutations and the chance cancer will develop.
Jessica’s article will be published in full in ‘The Biochemist’ magazine and on the Biochemical Society website in December.