William Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura were recently awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine. The prize recognizes their discovery in the 1970s of a special class of drugs that fight two of the world's most vicious tropical diseases: lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. However, the diseases still affect hundreds of millions of people annually. Why? The treatments developed from Campbell's and Ōmura's discovery only treats the symptoms of the diseases. The parasites that cause them, however, remain largely unaffected. This has convinced modern researchers that they still need to find a cure that will attack and kill the root of the problem, rather than just its effects.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Sometimes, we try to deal with our sin in similar ways, by covering up or hiding the surface-level effects, while the real root of the problem—our sin nature—remains. If we want to experience true freedom, we need to look to the One who has already taken care of the root of the problem.

Source:

Ed Yong, “How to Cure the Disease that Nobel-Winning Drugs Cannot,” The Atlantic (10-7-15)