Obama tasks Biden with ‘moonshot’ bid to cure cancer

WASHINGTON: The United States will launch a “moonshot” effort to cure cancer, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday, assigning his deputy Joe Biden to lead the effort. Comparing the scale of the challenge to the successful US mission to put an astronaut on the moon, Obama said the drive would receive the same effort as clean energy research. “For the loved ones we’ve all lost, for the family we can still save, let’s make America the country that cures cancer once and for all,” Obama said in his final State of the Union address. Last year, Vice President Biden’s son Beau -- a politician and former military officer aged only 46 -- died after suffering a stroke caused by brain cancer. The tragedy touched many Americans, and Biden -- after shutting down speculation that he would make a run for the White House -- has since emerged as a champion of cancer research.

‘It’s personal’