Overview
- Paul Conyngham used ChatGPT to plan the work and AlphaFold to analyze mutated proteins after standard chemotherapy and surgery failed to halt his dog Rosie’s mast cell cancer.
- He paid about AU$3,000 for tumor and healthy DNA sequencing at UNSW’s Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics, then worked with UNSW scientists to design a bespoke mRNA shot.
- UNSW RNA Institute director Pall Thordarson said this is the first time a personalized cancer vaccine has been designed for a dog.
- Rosie received an initial injection in December followed by boosters, and one tumor has shrunk by roughly half as her activity improved, though some lesions have not fully responded.
- Ethics approval took months and extensive documentation, and both Conyngham and researchers caution the therapy is not a confirmed cure as a second vaccine is now being developed.