Ilkley MP Kris Hopkins became a ‘citizen scientist’ to help Cancer Research UK fight cancer.

He joined other parliamentarians in Westminster in taking his turn on the new Cell SliderTM website which the charity hopes will bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

Cell SliderTM is the first interactive website to turn real archive cancer data into a format that can be analysed by the public.

It presents real images of tumour samples in the form of a simple game of snap. Users are guided through a tutorial explaining which cells to analyse and which ones to ignore.

The process of identifying certain molecules in cancer cells which help scientists understand why people respond differently to cancer treatment is currently slow. Cancer Research UK has therefore launched cellslider.net to help accelerate groundbreaking research.

By getting the public to become ‘citizen scientists’, more samples will be analysed faster and more effectively, freeing up the charity’s experts to carry out other cancer research. More than half a million images have already been analysed.

Mr Hopkins said: “Research is cancer’s number one enemy, so I urge everyone in Keighley and Ilkley to spare five minutes to get involved with this exciting initiative and help Cancer Research UK’s doctors and scientists to keep making huge advances in the battle against all cancers. The programme is very easy to use.”