Stevenage MP Stephen McPartland is supporting Cancer Research UK and the new Cell SliderTM website, which could help bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.
Stephen said, "At the moment the process of identifying certain molecules in cancer cells, which help scientists understand why people respond differently to cancer treatment, is very slow. I want to encourage everyone to take up the challenge to be a 'citizen scientist' and help analyse samples faster and more effectively. This will help free up the experts to carry out other cancer research, log on now to www.cellslider.net and help research beat cancer."
Cancer Research UK's Executive Director of Policy and Information, Sarah Woolnough, said: "Every step we make towards beating cancer relies on the support of the public, so we hope would-be 'citizen scientists' will really get behind this campaign. We're so pleased to have the support of Stephen with raising awareness, as there's still so much more we need to do to ensure no-one's life is cut short by cancer. But by boosting our ability to analyse data quickly with the help of 'citizen scientists', our world-class research teams will be able to develop better ways to prevent, control and cure the disease and help save many more lives."
Cell SliderTM comes as predictions show that the number of people with cancer in the UK is set to rise steeply by 2030. Every hour, more than three people in the East of England are diagnosed with cancer. More than half a million images have already been analysed.