From First Principles AI Cancer Vaccines, Strange Fish, Ketamine, and Ancient Life (EP. 34)
Mar 27, 2026
A fast tour through four wild science stories. AI tools and mRNA were used to design a personalized cancer vaccine for a dog. An all-female clonal fish challenges expectations about asexual reproduction. New brain scans link ketamine’s rapid antidepressant effects to region-specific receptor changes. Microscopic plankton may have rebounded into new species within a few thousand years after the dinosaur-killing impact.
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AI Designed Vaccine Rescued Dying Dog
- Paul Cunningham used ChatGPT and other AI tools to design a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine for his dying rescue dog Rosie, shrinking a tennis-ball-sized mast cell tumor by ~75% within months.
- He sequenced Rosie's healthy and tumor DNA with University of New South Wales, identified driver mutations, and added immune-stimulating elements to overcome tumor immunosuppression.
Tumor Heterogeneity Means Vaccine Iteration Matters
- Personalized mRNA vaccines can be iteratively improved by sequencing multiple tumor regions because different tumor areas carry different mutations.
- Krishna Choudhary notes only 75% shrinkage likely because other tumor cores contained unsequenced mutations that future rounds could target.
Gene Conversion Lets Asexual Fish Persist
- The Amazon molly is an all-female clonal fish lineage >100,000 years old that should have degenerated but persists through gene conversion-based repair.
- Researchers show gene conversion between chromosome copies repairs deleterious mutations while creating limited variation, letting clonal reproduction survive long-term.