IT Works recently offered a national scholarship essay contest, where entrants were asked to write about the importance of sponsored research. Over the next few months, IT Works will be publishing many of the student essays on our website.
Author: Delanie Ray
In order for our society to continue to advance we must research ways to keep us living healthy. As the saying goes, your body is a well-oiled machine and you only get one body, so take excellent care of it. We are lucky to live in a world and in an age where there is groundbreaking research toward developing new ways to improve overall human health. As history shows us, the life expectancy of the human species has increased dramatically since the early 1900’s. We no longer suffer from diseases such as rickets, scurvy and the plague. We are however facing new diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. At this point, we continue to spend millions of dollars a year, as our researchers continue to look for cures. An equally important area for research lies in preventing these diseases, as well as, finding cures. Today, more research is being done in the field of preventative medicine.
An example of this, is the research that was started in 1992 by Dr. Myron Wentz. Dr. Wentz is a microbiologist and immunologist, who has specialized in the field of cellular health. Dr. Wentz believes the way to keep your body healthy is to treat it at a cellular level. Dr. Wentz’s vision is, “I dream of a world free from pain and suffering. I dream of a world free from disease. We humans are living too short and dying too long”. Dr. Wentz asks us to, “share his vision, love your life and live your life to its fullest in happiness and health”. Dr. Wentz has been a researcher for 30+ years. Dr. Wentz started his career diagnosing diseases. In 1974 Dr. Wentz started Gull Laboratories, where he developed a test kit for diagnosing Epstein-Barr virus infection.
Thereafter, Dr. Wentz decided to switch his research toward preventing diseases. Both of Dr. Wentz’s parents died from degenerative diseases. His mother lost her life to breast cancer and his father died from heart disease. When Dr. Wentz began his research, his methodology was to grow cell cultures in petri dishes, introducing diseases to the cell cultures and researching a way to repair those cells. He said he remembered his mother saying she wished there was something she could have done to help her husband. Those words rang in his ears for many years. In 1992, Dr. Wentz sold Gull Laboratories and used the money to fund his research, where he started USANA Health Sciences. Dr. Wentz hired a team of scientists, who began their research to formulate science based nutritional products that would provide your cells with the nutritional health needed to fight off disease, by providing the highest quality anti-oxidants. They also researched other nutritional products in the marketplace and found that these products lacked the nutrients necessary to repair damaged cells. Essentially, they would introduce these products to cell cultures and the cells would die. USANA maintains cell cultures that have remained alive for over 20 years. USANA spends millions of dollars a year on R&D to ensure they stay on the cutting edge of cellular research. As they explain it, “USANA lives and breathes science. Our commitment to R&D is manifested in the high-tech labs populated by talented chemists, molecular and cellular biologists, nutritional biochemists, a pharmacist, research nurse, naturopathic physician, and sports science experts”. The word USANA is from a Latin word which means “True Health”. For Dr. Wentz’s vision to create a better world, he was awarded the “Albert Einstein Award” in 2007, for his research and lifetime achievements in life sciences. For almost 23 years, USANA has improved the health of millions of people all over the world and they continue to be recognized for their commitment toward improving the health of all of us.
The content of blog entries written for the scholarship competition is the responsibility of the student authors, not IT Works. For IT Works’ copyright policy, please click here.
Leave a Comment