Gertrude Elion discussing the effect of her grandfather's death on her decision to become a chemist

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"And I actually watched him die in the hospital, going through a lot of pain, and thinking that certainly there must be a way to cure this disease. But I didn't see how a doctor could cure cancer unless he had some medicine to do it with. So, how would you make a medicine? Well, you had to be a chemist. And I suddenly thought, why not? Why can't I do it? Just as simple as that: why not?"


Associated people [d]: 
Elion, Gertrude Belle

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Jewish Women's Archive. "Gertrude Elion discussing the effect of her grandfather's death on her decision to become a chemist." <http://jwa.org/media/gertrude-elion-discussing-effect-of-her-grandfathers-death-on-her-decision-to-become-chemist> (May 24, 2012).