Eric Topol

Now, as I look down the list of all the things you brought up,

I'm saying we're not doing any of this stuff.

Is that the right call on that?

You know, I could agree with you more there.

You really highlight this in the book.

And the point here is that, you know, we haven't done anything to improve the mRNA nanoparticle package since day one.

It was, of course, a miracle.

that we had it in 10 months from the time of sequence to the first vaccine being able to be given to people.

But we know, like, for example, in Japan, there's self-amplifying mRNA at tiny doses, much less potential for side effects.

And the nanoparticles can be tweaked.

And we're still now, you know, five years later or four years plus later from the vaccines being available.

And, you know, the companies are doing nothing.

And of course, as you point out, Mike,

The abandonment of HHS, of mRNA, perhaps not just even for infectious diseases, but for cancer, autoimmune diseases, gene editing, and all sorts of other things.

This is really a tragedy, I think, because as you just pointed out, a lot of people don't realize it, you can make an enormous amount

of mRNA vaccines quickly.

And of course, we could stockpile, ideally, universal flu, universal coronavirus, and pick a couple more leading culprits and have, you know, like you said, billions of doses ready.

And you really spotlighted this in the book.

The investment in stockpiling universal vaccines, mRNA vaccines, that would offset the tragedy and the loss of lives, the economic impact, on and on and on, right?

I mean, it's just extraordinary to me that we could be building at mass quantities universal vaccines with a tiny fraction of the mRNA that's used today with better nanoparticles, better immune response, and we're doing nothing.