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Independent Lens Season 26 Episode 20
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FunTranscript
00:00:00There's been three great
00:00:29innovation revolutions of modern time.
00:00:33The first is in physics,
00:00:35and a lot of it comes from Einstein's 1905 papers
00:00:38on quantum and relativity.
00:00:41And it's marked by everything from space travel
00:00:45to nuclear power, GPSs and lasers.
00:00:50The second innovation revolution, beginning in the 1950s,
00:00:54comes from the three inventions of the microchip,
00:00:57the computer, and the Internet.
00:00:59And that creates a digital revolution.
00:01:03Now we're entering the third great revolution of modern time.
00:01:07And it comes from the sequencing of the human genome
00:01:10and discoveries that DNA wasn't the only story.
00:01:14RNA was actually more interesting.
00:01:17And so now we're in this third revolution,
00:01:20which will dominate the first half of the 21st century.
00:01:22From the point of view of human health and existence,
00:01:27the life science revolution is the most important revolution that's ever occurred.
00:01:32One of the miracles I've seen in my life is biotechnology.
00:01:43The drugs that have come out of that industry change lives.
00:01:46And Phil Sharp has been there at every step.
00:01:51In creating treatments for disease, Phil's laboratory has led the way.
00:01:58Phil Sharp, COVID hit.
00:02:01If not for the work that Phil Sharp did,
00:02:04we would not have an mRNA-based COVID vaccine.
00:02:07You know, in nature, you only know the importance of something when it's missing.
00:02:13In our biotech ecosystem, one might ask,
00:02:16what would have happened if there was no Phil Sharp?
00:02:19Phil Sharp, the wealth of science we see in the biotech industry,
00:02:23how much of it could have occurred without Phil?
00:02:28Dr. Philip Sharp, your discovery led to the prediction of a new genetic process,
00:02:35that of RNA splicing.
00:02:38I now ask you to step forward to receive the Nobel Prize.
00:02:41Phil Sharp, how he got from a Kentucky tobacco farm
00:02:51to the RNA revolution.
00:02:59It's one of the great stories.
00:03:11Every person is a little novel in front of you,
00:03:17so you just have to understand how it unfolds and how it's shaped.
00:03:23Phil Sharp's story begins in Falmouth, Kentucky,
00:03:26where he was born on June 6, 1944, D-Day.
00:03:30Men and women of the United States,
00:03:32this is a momentous hour in world history.
00:03:35My father and mother lost a store in the Depression.
00:03:44Moved into a building, it was a dirt floor,
00:03:48and that's where I spent my first year of life.
00:03:52In a dirt floor house.
00:03:54It was cold, damp.
00:03:57Phil's younger sister, I think, almost died because of crude.
00:04:01We didn't have running water.
00:04:03We had a cistern with a pump outside the door.
00:04:08And, of course, we brought the water in with a bucket.
00:04:13We didn't have electricity.
00:04:15We had lamps.
00:04:16I was seven when my parents bought a small farm
00:04:20that I lived on until I graduated from high school.
00:04:25And it was bought by mostly dad,
00:04:27which they were panicked about.
00:04:29My father was never harsh.
00:04:35A kind man.
00:04:38Disappointed sometimes,
00:04:39and he would tell you when he was disappointed.
00:04:43Daddy loved to read.
00:04:45Mom, that would aggravate her a lot
00:04:48because when they weren't working out in the field,
00:04:51she felt like Daddy could be doing something around the farm.
00:04:55But if it was raining, she'd find Daddy off reading someplace.
00:05:02My mother encouraged us to be confident of who we were.
00:05:10And that optimism has just been part of my whole mental makeup all my life.
00:05:17So Phil's mother, Catherine, was a very bright young woman.
00:05:27And she only got to go to the eighth grade.
00:05:30She was desperate to go to high school.
00:05:32She really, really wanted.
00:05:34The only way she would be able to do that
00:05:36would be to go and stay with an uncle in town.
00:05:40The only school was 20 miles away.
00:05:43There was no bus service.
00:05:44She was the oldest girl in a family of six.
00:05:48Her father said,
00:05:49No way am I going to let you go and keep house for them.
00:05:53You need to stay home and keep house for us.
00:05:58And she resented that her entire life.
00:06:02Not being able to be educated, at least through high school,
00:06:07made education terribly important to her.
00:06:10So they gave me some tobacco to grow so I could take the money and put in college fund.
00:06:16And they gave me an animal to the husband on the farm here.
00:06:20And I took the money from the calves when they were sold and put them in a fund for college.
00:06:26But, I will note, this deal wasn't offered to either of my sisters.
00:06:33It was offered to me.
00:06:36And responsibility started when I was eight.
00:06:39Just to tell you what Kentucky was like.
00:06:48On this farm, you have to watch out.
00:06:51There are snakes.
00:06:55Sweat bees.
00:06:58Horseflies.
00:07:00Blaring sun.
00:07:00Growing tobacco.
00:07:04You had a spear, which was on a stick,
00:07:07which you had to physically crash the plant down on.
00:07:11And that spear could fall into you.
00:07:14You were up in the barn.
00:07:16Your foot comes off and you fall.
00:07:19You're probably 12 years old.
00:07:22You mistakenly think you can hold the tractor with your brake.
00:07:26You can't with a load behind you.
00:07:27But, I damn near killed myself back here.
00:07:34It's tough because of the demanding changes in weather.
00:07:38A storm can cost you a crop of a year.
00:07:42Markets change.
00:07:44The value of what you're doing is very low.
00:07:48All of that is risk.
00:07:51To survive, you had to depend on each other.
00:07:54Everyone had to persevere.
00:07:59And it was expected of you.
00:08:03On a hot summer day in Kentucky, when it's 95,
00:08:07and the humidity is 90,
00:08:10and you're going to be there from 8 in the morning
00:08:13to 5 or so in the evening,
00:08:16your father's over there, and he's doing it.
00:08:20Another person is over there, and they're doing it.
00:08:24And the last thing you're going to say
00:08:25is, I don't want to do this.
00:08:34Hi.
00:08:35Hi there.
00:08:37It's been a long time.
00:08:40It's been a long time.
00:08:41And this naughty little boy came back to say hello.
00:08:43And thank you so much.
00:08:45I mean, it's so great to see my 4th and 5th grade teacher.
00:08:50You didn't think she'd still be alive.
00:08:51No, I didn't.
00:08:52But you started me in science.
00:08:54Oh, good.
00:08:55You taught me how to read.
00:08:57I did something right.
00:08:58Yes, you did.
00:08:59That was wonderful.
00:09:01He was just one of about 40 in the classroom at first.
00:09:07If I could go back in that classroom,
00:09:08I could tell you exactly where he sat.
00:09:10There's a few I remember where they sat that year.
00:09:16And he was one, because he sat directly from my desk
00:09:18about two or three desks back.
00:09:22And I can remember watching him pull a book out.
00:09:25When he would finish his work,
00:09:27he would pull a book out and sit and read.
00:09:30And I don't think to this day I ever got after him about reading.
00:09:34He may sell you differently, but I don't think I did.
00:09:37Because I was so glad that he would read.
00:09:42Not too many children would do that.
00:09:44I've always been somewhat an outsider.
00:09:58I socially was not very sophisticated.
00:10:04I also had a challenge.
00:10:06I was dyslexic as I could be.
00:10:12And even stuttered for some when I was a kid.
00:10:16So I had to overcome that.
00:10:19He has trouble word finding.
00:10:22Especially if he's tired or stressed out in some way.
00:10:25I did not know Philip had dyslexia.
00:10:32In fact, it was a new word.
00:10:34We were a small county.
00:10:37And maybe you would say backwardly.
00:10:40I don't know.
00:10:41I had no knowledge of dyslexia.
00:10:44And he had several teachers before me.
00:10:47And evidently, they didn't recognize it either.
00:10:49Primary school.
00:10:52They would be reading something.
00:10:53And they went down the line.
00:10:56You know, Sally read a paragraph or two paragraphs.
00:10:58And then Mary and then Joe.
00:11:01And then they get to fill.
00:11:02And they would skip him.
00:11:08When he read, he read what the page meant.
00:11:11He did not read what the page said.
00:11:14And he continues to do that.
00:11:16Determined to become a skilled reader like his father.
00:11:25And despite his learning challenges.
00:11:27By the eighth grade, friends joke that Phil has read every book in the school library.
00:11:36I started reading books about geology, history of the earth.
00:11:43All the biographies I could find.
00:11:47Washington and Adams, Jefferson, all the way to Boone in Kentucky.
00:11:53By reading, I could see parts of the world I couldn't touch and feel.
00:12:01In Falmouth, Kentucky, 20 miles from the nearest town of 2000.
00:12:07I was all over this place.
00:12:17In the winter, I'd go take an axe and hack through the ice on the pond so the cows can drink water.
00:12:24Carry feed to animals.
00:12:25I would listen to the locusts and think about the locusts and just, you know, what the world looks like under these beautiful trees.
00:12:37I would think about stories I'd read, powers beyond my own power and beyond the power of other men.
00:12:51And I would form visions of what could be.
00:12:56I wanted to be a leader.
00:13:02I can remember very specifically an occasion.
00:13:06I think it was the sixth grade.
00:13:08He loved basketball.
00:13:10And he dearly wanted to play.
00:13:13I went out for the team.
00:13:15I was a little pudgy.
00:13:17And I didn't make the team.
00:13:19And I was crushed.
00:13:24My father went to the coach and asked if I could practice with the team but not suit and play.
00:13:32And the coach agreed.
00:13:35It was a matter of taking the risk of saying,
00:13:39OK, I'm not good now, but maybe I'll be good later.
00:13:45And he was.
00:13:46I worked seven years to get there.
00:13:52But I got there.
00:13:54And I wasn't a star.
00:13:56And not even close.
00:13:58But I was able to participate.
00:14:02I got the most fouls.
00:14:03I may still have a school record for the most fouls.
00:14:07But it was a competition.
00:14:10And I focused myself and worked hard and succeeded.
00:14:16I would say he wanted to win.
00:14:23Yes, he did.
00:14:26And that's a good trait.
00:14:29If you give up, you don't accomplish very much.
00:14:32And Phillip wasn't somebody I thought is a quitter at all.
00:14:37When I was a junior, a teacher named Mr. Kellams came to Pendleton County full of energy and new ideas.
00:14:49He started a science club.
00:14:55He bought a telescope and we could look at Jupiter.
00:14:58I was so surprised when I saw Jupiter.
00:15:05He taught chemistry.
00:15:11Physiques.
00:15:13As well as higher math.
00:15:16And I spent the whole day with him.
00:15:18I just loved it.
00:15:20It was just one of the great experiences.
00:15:25The principal calls me out of my class.
00:15:27I didn't know what I did.
00:15:29But it wasn't good news to go see the principal.
00:15:31So I went to the principal.
00:15:33And he sat me down and said,
00:15:34Phil, the Chamber of Commerce,
00:15:37they would like to know
00:15:38if you would be interested in
00:15:41them helping you
00:15:42go to college and the medical school
00:15:45if you would commit to come back to Falmouth.
00:15:49I thought about it for a few moments
00:15:50and said,
00:15:51I am in no position
00:15:54to make that decision about my life.
00:15:59I didn't know what I was going to do,
00:16:01but I sure didn't think I was going to live
00:16:03in that county for the rest of my life.
00:16:08I had saved enough money
00:16:10for about a year and a half of college.
00:16:13So thank goodness for Sputnik.
00:16:15Russia's launch of Sputnik,
00:16:23the world's first satellite,
00:16:25announces that the race for space is on
00:16:27and America is behind.
00:16:31Sputnik went up
00:16:32and the country invested in education
00:16:35and particularly in science and technology.
00:16:37And so I took a loan,
00:16:40went to a small college
00:16:41in the mountains of Kentucky.
00:16:43In 1962, Phil goes to college.
00:16:49Only 10% of his high school graduating class
00:16:52will do the same.
00:16:53He enrolls in Union,
00:16:59the only school he applies to.
00:17:02It's a two-and-a-half-hour drive from home.
00:17:05His tuition is $470 a semester.
00:17:09I met Anne, my wife,
00:17:14the first day I was there.
00:17:19He was, even at that time,
00:17:22very focused academically.
00:17:24Got immersed in science
00:17:30and I particularly got fascinated
00:17:32about biology
00:17:33and how chemically
00:17:35you could understand life.
00:17:38Humans, plants,
00:17:40all creatures,
00:17:41we share the same genetic processes,
00:17:44we share the same
00:17:45biochemical processes.
00:17:46I learn all of life
00:17:50is connected.
00:17:53He is a dreamer.
00:17:56He sees connections
00:17:58that none of us see.
00:18:02We were young.
00:18:05We were in love.
00:18:06We both had been working
00:18:10in the food hall,
00:18:13washing up dishes and such,
00:18:14and that is, in fact,
00:18:15how he afforded my ring.
00:18:20I thought,
00:18:21oh, I'm marrying
00:18:22a high school chemistry professor.
00:18:27We got married
00:18:28between our sophomore
00:18:29and our junior year.
00:18:31We were 20 years old,
00:18:33both of us.
00:18:36I wanted to get
00:18:39advanced degrees.
00:18:41We graduated from
00:18:42Union College
00:18:43and went straight
00:18:44to the University of Illinois.
00:18:46I didn't think
00:18:47I was ever going
00:18:48to find a job,
00:18:49but I did,
00:18:50in the middle of the year,
00:18:52teaching third grade.
00:19:01And we found a trailer
00:19:02in a trailer park
00:19:04right on the edge
00:19:04of Champaign-Urbana.
00:19:06The bedroom was
00:19:08as wide as the bed.
00:19:12I take the entrance exams.
00:19:16I fail three of the four.
00:19:20I'd never seen the material.
00:19:21It just wasn't taught
00:19:22at Union.
00:19:24I thought,
00:19:25things are going sideways,
00:19:29maybe a little backwards.
00:19:30I said, take our senior classes.
00:19:39I said, take our senior classes.
00:19:39Ultimately, Phil is accepted into the graduate school.
00:19:52He devotes himself to unraveling secrets
00:19:54in the chemistry of DNA,
00:19:56receiving his Ph.D.
00:19:59Phil applies to do post-doctoral work
00:20:11at the California Institute of Technology,
00:20:14home to some of the most gifted scientific minds
00:20:18in the world.
00:20:23He makes it through the fiercely competitive acceptance process.
00:20:29He and Ann are 25 years old.
00:20:31I've never been to California in my life.
00:20:35Phil had never been to California in his life.
00:20:39I guess we were both a little bit risk-takers.
00:20:42And at that stage, we had a daughter.
00:20:44We bought a car,
00:20:50drove out to the Midwest camp
00:20:52for six weeks to see the country.
00:20:54We got very, very good at setting up camp.
00:20:58We had it down pat.
00:21:00Clearly, I wasn't the strongest student,
00:21:16either in math or in chemistry.
00:21:22But I turned out to be very imaginative.
00:21:27At Caltech, Phil tackles
00:21:29the difficult challenge
00:21:31of uncovering how a DNA sequence
00:21:33codes for a particular gene.
00:21:36I was reaching into biology
00:21:39and molecular genetics,
00:21:41and I developed some technology.
00:21:44It was novel.
00:21:47And people around the world,
00:21:49they were writing,
00:21:51saying, I'd like to come and work with you.
00:22:00Nearing the end of his postdoc,
00:22:03Phil wants a job teaching
00:22:04and doing cutting-edge scientific research
00:22:06at a leading university,
00:22:08but he can't find one.
00:22:11In 1971, millions of Americans
00:22:14are out of work
00:22:15as a deep recession
00:22:16affects the entire country.
00:22:18We had a family,
00:22:21so we needed some way
00:22:22to support the family.
00:22:27I found that a very,
00:22:29very difficult time.
00:22:30After six months of struggling
00:22:40to find a job,
00:22:42Phil writes to Nobel laureate James Watson
00:22:44looking for work.
00:22:45The job market was very bad
00:22:50in 71.
00:22:52It was a very uncertain time.
00:22:56James Watson,
00:22:58famous for his 1953
00:22:59co-discovery of DNA's
00:23:01double helix structure,
00:23:03agrees to extend Phil
00:23:06a second training fellowship
00:23:08at Cold Spring Harbor Lab.
00:23:11The job pays $6,500 a year.
00:23:14So we moved back
00:23:17across the country,
00:23:18Anne and I,
00:23:19in the same car.
00:23:22Packed up our tent,
00:23:24our baby,
00:23:25and headed off to New York.
00:23:31It was a little hairy
00:23:32when we first got there
00:23:33because there wasn't
00:23:34any place for us to live.
00:23:37We're modest in our expectations,
00:23:40but where are we going to sleep?
00:23:42You know, I'm in tears.
00:23:47The lab scrambled
00:23:48and rented a house.
00:23:52We shared it
00:23:53with Ron and Janet Davis.
00:23:57At Cold Spring Harbor,
00:23:59Phil publishes
00:23:59five highly respected papers
00:24:02outlining how genetics
00:24:03play a fundamental role
00:24:05in causing disease,
00:24:06including cancer.
00:24:07a simple virus.
00:24:15They have genes
00:24:15that cause tumors.
00:24:16We wanted to understand
00:24:18what those genes were doing.
00:24:20But after three years,
00:24:21I wanted to move
00:24:23to a university.
00:24:25So I went on the job market,
00:24:28traveled around the country.
00:24:29This is the academic marathon
00:24:30where you give seminars
00:24:32and they figure out
00:24:33whether they want
00:24:35to have you as a colleague.
00:24:37Phil's dream job
00:24:38is at MIT,
00:24:39where professors
00:24:40have secured funding
00:24:41for a revolutionary
00:24:42new cancer center.
00:24:48Boy, that led me
00:24:50to saying,
00:24:51I want to go to MIT
00:24:52and be down the hall
00:24:53from Dave Baltimore.
00:24:54He was an internationally
00:24:57established
00:24:58future Nobel laureate.
00:25:00And I was hoping
00:25:03that I could
00:25:05get an offer
00:25:06from MIT,
00:25:07so I was waiting.
00:25:15More people each year
00:25:17die of cancer
00:25:18in the United States
00:25:19than all the Americans
00:25:21who lost their lives
00:25:22in World War II.
00:25:24This shows us
00:25:25what is at stake.
00:25:28In 1971,
00:25:29President Nixon
00:25:31declares war on cancer,
00:25:33dramatically increasing
00:25:34funding for scientific
00:25:35research and education.
00:25:38We were trying
00:25:40to build a cancer center
00:25:42at MIT.
00:25:44We looked around
00:25:45for bright young
00:25:46molecular biologists
00:25:48devoting their lives
00:25:50to understanding
00:25:51the relationship
00:25:53of viruses and cancer.
00:25:55Phil just stood out.
00:25:56And so we asked him
00:25:58to be one of the
00:25:59very first
00:26:00young investigators
00:26:02at the cancer center.
00:26:05I was the worst
00:26:06negotiator.
00:26:07I basically said,
00:26:08yes,
00:26:09you know,
00:26:09I'm coming.
00:26:10Let's figure it out.
00:26:12This was 74
00:26:13when I moved.
00:26:15I had a formal
00:26:16academic appointment
00:26:17focused in the cancer center.
00:26:20It was one of the
00:26:22most dynamic
00:26:24communities.
00:26:27We just
00:26:28coalesced.
00:26:30Having a relationship
00:26:31of mutual support
00:26:32and mutual stimulation
00:26:34made doing science
00:26:36a joy.
00:26:38I do recall
00:26:42standing back
00:26:43in awe
00:26:44and thinking,
00:26:46boy,
00:26:47that's somebody.
00:26:51A central requirement
00:26:52of being a genius
00:26:53is being
00:26:55off center,
00:26:57off kilter,
00:26:58and not minding.
00:27:00He is
00:27:01undaunted,
00:27:05unapologetic.
00:27:06He's not the first
00:27:08person to ask
00:27:09a question
00:27:09in a seminar.
00:27:11But when he
00:27:12asks a question,
00:27:13he's not asking
00:27:15the question
00:27:15to show off
00:27:16what he knows.
00:27:18Very common
00:27:19motivation
00:27:20when you're
00:27:20in these very
00:27:21high-level seminars,
00:27:22I can tell you.
00:27:24But
00:27:25he asks
00:27:27a question
00:27:27out of
00:27:28a very
00:27:30deep curiosity.
00:27:34What are you
00:27:34growing in the
00:27:35biorex?
00:27:35I'm going to
00:27:36show us all.
00:27:38Being a scientist
00:27:39isn't for everyone,
00:27:41but when the match
00:27:42is right,
00:27:43it's magical.
00:27:49I come from
00:27:50a small town
00:27:50in Virginia,
00:27:51Newmarket, Virginia.
00:27:52There were only
00:27:5392 kids
00:27:54in my graduating
00:27:55class.
00:27:55Only 10% of them
00:27:56went to college,
00:27:58so about 10 people.
00:27:59coming from a very
00:28:03rural background
00:28:04where you're not
00:28:05very sophisticated,
00:28:07you know,
00:28:07it takes some
00:28:08time to adjust
00:28:11to being in,
00:28:13frankly,
00:28:13a world-class
00:28:14institution.
00:28:15I grew up in this
00:28:19little town
00:28:20in Louisiana.
00:28:21I knew I didn't
00:28:23have the same
00:28:23background as
00:28:24people coming
00:28:25from the wealthy
00:28:26suburbs of Boston,
00:28:28for example.
00:28:29Where I grew up,
00:28:30the expectations
00:28:31for women
00:28:31weren't very high.
00:28:34I think
00:28:35being an outsider
00:28:36and always
00:28:38wanting to prove
00:28:39that you belong.
00:28:42You belong at MIT.
00:28:44That driving force
00:28:45helps because
00:28:46science is hard
00:28:48and you've got
00:28:49to be determined
00:28:51like that.
00:28:53I'm interested in science
00:28:54because it's a puzzle
00:28:55and there are problems
00:28:56to be solved
00:28:57and you can try
00:28:58and think about
00:28:59logical solutions
00:29:00and as someone
00:29:01who loves math,
00:29:02that was sort of
00:29:03how I thought
00:29:03about science.
00:29:04But most of the work
00:29:06is a slog.
00:29:07You're doing
00:29:07the same experiments
00:29:08over and over
00:29:10with slight nuances
00:29:11and it's only
00:29:11occasionally that
00:29:13you step back
00:29:13and you say,
00:29:15wow, this might
00:29:16actually mean this.
00:29:18One of the
00:29:19important ingredients
00:29:20in all great
00:29:21scientists is that
00:29:22maybe they've
00:29:23drunk the Kool-Aid
00:29:24on their own ideas
00:29:25but they're not
00:29:26going to get
00:29:27dissuaded by people
00:29:28who say,
00:29:29oh, that could
00:29:29never work.
00:29:30Don't even try.
00:29:32But what if it did?
00:29:34Then what would
00:29:36that mean?
00:29:36The big leaps
00:29:38in science
00:29:39are always
00:29:40where people
00:29:41have taken
00:29:42a big risk
00:29:43and really
00:29:44could have
00:29:44a major impact
00:29:45on the world.
00:29:46our nightly news
00:29:55special this evening
00:29:56is about DNA,
00:29:57a genetic chemical
00:29:58which sets the pattern
00:29:59of life in cells.
00:30:01Our special is also
00:30:02about a dispute
00:30:03involving certain
00:30:04genetic experiments,
00:30:05experiments which
00:30:06some people think
00:30:07are very important,
00:30:08which some people
00:30:09think are very dangerous.
00:30:10The experiments
00:30:10could be both.
00:30:11In the early 1970s,
00:30:14rapidly advancing
00:30:15scientific insights
00:30:17result in a bold
00:30:18experiment.
00:30:192,700 miles away
00:30:21from Phil's
00:30:22virology lab at MIT,
00:30:24Stanford University
00:30:25scientist Paul Berg
00:30:27pioneers a novel
00:30:28technology.
00:30:30By successfully
00:30:31inserting fragments
00:30:32from an animal virus
00:30:33into a strand
00:30:34of bacteria,
00:30:35he launches
00:30:36a revolutionary
00:30:37new field,
00:30:39recombinant DNA.
00:30:40scientists have now
00:30:44found a way
00:30:45to isolate
00:30:46individual human genes,
00:30:48that small portion
00:30:49of the DNA molecule
00:30:50that determines
00:30:51the behavior
00:30:52of a cell.
00:30:54For example,
00:30:55the gene that
00:30:56instructs a cell
00:30:56to make insulin.
00:31:00This exciting
00:31:01breakthrough
00:31:02ignites
00:31:03widespread concern.
00:31:06Before Paul Berg,
00:31:08no one had been
00:31:09able to move
00:31:10a gene
00:31:11from one organism
00:31:12to another organism.
00:31:14That captured
00:31:15the imagination
00:31:16of many scientists
00:31:17and many people
00:31:19in the public.
00:31:25One of the things
00:31:26scientists have to do
00:31:27is, after they come up
00:31:29with a great discovery
00:31:30or invention,
00:31:31worry about the moral
00:31:32consequences of it.
00:31:33The first thing I learned
00:31:37was that there was
00:31:39going to be a moratorium
00:31:40on recombinant DNA work
00:31:41debated at Asilomar.
00:31:45Asilomar, California,
00:31:46in 1975,
00:31:48becomes a scene
00:31:49of a four-day
00:31:50international meeting
00:31:51of the minds.
00:31:53140 scientists
00:31:55from 16 countries
00:31:56converge,
00:31:58debate,
00:31:59argue,
00:32:00and ultimately
00:32:01established controls
00:32:03of recombinant DNA research.
00:32:05Led by some great
00:32:07biologists,
00:32:08but also some ethicists,
00:32:09they figured out
00:32:10what are the rules
00:32:12we're going to have.
00:32:15We not only got
00:32:16the group who was there
00:32:19to agree to that,
00:32:20we got the world
00:32:21scientific community
00:32:22to agree to it.
00:32:24Although the National
00:32:27Institutes of Health
00:32:28rapidly endorse
00:32:30the Asilomar guidelines,
00:32:32some communities disagree.
00:32:34The idea of genetic
00:32:36engineering going on
00:32:37in his city
00:32:37horrifies Cambridge
00:32:39Mayor Alfred Villucci.
00:32:41I'm worried about
00:32:42contamination,
00:32:44infections,
00:32:46something that could
00:32:47crawl out of the
00:32:47laboratory,
00:32:48such as a Frankenstein.
00:32:52DNA research
00:32:53should not be done
00:32:54in a city
00:32:55populated
00:32:57with people.
00:33:03In Cambridge,
00:33:05Massachusetts,
00:33:06Phil and his team
00:33:07are banned from
00:33:07all recombinant
00:33:09DNA experiments.
00:33:11But on the West Coast,
00:33:13where scientists
00:33:13freely explore
00:33:15this brave new world
00:33:16of exciting research,
00:33:18visionary entrepreneurs
00:33:19take the technology
00:33:20further into the world
00:33:22of novel drug development.
00:33:28Back in 1977,
00:33:31I got a call
00:33:32from Ray Schaefer
00:33:35to consult
00:33:37for an investment
00:33:38in Genentech.
00:33:40Didn't know Ray Schaefer,
00:33:42didn't know Genentech.
00:33:44And the way
00:33:44he explained it was,
00:33:45I didn't even know
00:33:46what a venture capital
00:33:47was.
00:33:49Colleagues around me
00:33:50at MIT,
00:33:51no one was involved
00:33:52in biotech.
00:33:53It wasn't even a word.
00:33:57I flew to San Francisco
00:33:58and walked in.
00:34:01And here was
00:34:02Bob Swanson,
00:34:03Herb Boyer,
00:34:04the two founders
00:34:05of Genentech.
00:34:08They gave a spiel
00:34:10about what they wanted
00:34:11to do.
00:34:12In 1977,
00:34:145 million Americans
00:34:15and 98 million people
00:34:17worldwide have diabetes,
00:34:20a condition in which
00:34:21they are unable
00:34:21to process sugar
00:34:22in their blood
00:34:23in a healthy way.
00:34:27Insulin,
00:34:28made by the grinding
00:34:29of the pancreas
00:34:30of animals
00:34:30and forming it
00:34:31into a solution
00:34:32to be injected daily,
00:34:33helped many diabetics
00:34:35stay alive.
00:34:36pig pancreas.
00:34:41You had to have
00:34:42tens of thousands
00:34:43in order to get
00:34:43just a little bit
00:34:44of protein.
00:34:45And you can imagine
00:34:46in humans,
00:34:48the body considered
00:34:49it a foreign substance
00:34:50because it's not human.
00:34:53Boyer and Swanson,
00:34:54they showed
00:34:55a better treatment.
00:34:58First basic product
00:35:00of human insulin.
00:35:03Schaefer and them
00:35:03asked me
00:35:04what I thought
00:35:05and I said
00:35:06I don't know
00:35:08if you can make
00:35:08a buck with this science
00:35:09but they are going
00:35:11to do it.
00:35:14Based on Phil's
00:35:15endorsement
00:35:15and despite
00:35:16the enormous risk
00:35:17involved,
00:35:18Ray Schaefer
00:35:19and his partners
00:35:20invest in Genentech,
00:35:21the world's first
00:35:23biotechnology company.
00:35:26And only later,
00:35:27many years later,
00:35:28I said,
00:35:28you know,
00:35:29you should have
00:35:29taken some stock options.
00:35:32Of course,
00:35:33I had no idea
00:35:33what a stock option was.
00:35:35I think he got
00:35:38a couple hundred bucks.
00:35:42Meanwhile,
00:35:43Phil joins his colleagues
00:35:44in Cambridge,
00:35:45working to overturn
00:35:46Mayor Alvolucci's
00:35:47recombinant DNA
00:35:48research ban.
00:35:51I have made references
00:35:53to Frankenstein.
00:35:55Some people think
00:35:56this is all
00:35:57a big joke.
00:35:59The place was packed.
00:36:01Students were all
00:36:02over the place.
00:36:02everybody was talking
00:36:03and there was
00:36:04an enormous amount
00:36:05of noise.
00:36:06Next.
00:36:08Mr. Sharp,
00:36:10associate professor
00:36:11of policy at MIT
00:36:12and I'm in favor.
00:36:14Sir,
00:36:14sir.
00:36:17All right.
00:36:18Next.
00:36:20It was really quite
00:36:21an elaborate show.
00:36:22We must have
00:36:23did something.
00:36:25So you're feeling
00:36:26that I brought you
00:36:27from Canada
00:36:27right here to Cambridge.
00:36:29Journalists from
00:36:30around the world
00:36:31take interest
00:36:32and descend
00:36:33upon the hearings.
00:36:35We could have
00:36:36a major disaster
00:36:38on our hands.
00:36:40Can you make
00:36:41an absolute
00:36:42100% certain
00:36:43guarantee
00:36:44that there is
00:36:45no possible risk?
00:36:47You couldn't say yes
00:36:49because it had
00:36:50never been done before?
00:36:52All right.
00:36:52Now you made the statement
00:36:53that there is no
00:36:53known dangerous
00:36:54organism has ever
00:36:55been produced
00:36:56by a recombinant
00:36:57DNA experiment.
00:36:58Yes.
00:36:58Now just what
00:36:59the hell do you
00:36:59think you're
00:36:59going to do
00:37:00if you do
00:37:00produce one?
00:37:06Um,
00:37:07well,
00:37:08I,
00:37:08I can,
00:37:10pardon?
00:37:11I'll put it
00:37:11in the shower.
00:37:14We,
00:37:15the scientific
00:37:16community of Cambridge,
00:37:17had to
00:37:18respond
00:37:20to this kind
00:37:22of naked politics
00:37:23and we weren't
00:37:24used to that.
00:37:25There was none
00:37:26of us who had
00:37:26any background
00:37:27in that.
00:37:27As near as
00:37:28we can tell,
00:37:29the probability
00:37:30that that event
00:37:31will occur
00:37:31is extraordinarily
00:37:32low.
00:37:34We settled
00:37:34down and did it.
00:37:35We went to
00:37:36city council meetings.
00:37:38We spoke up.
00:37:40Some of the
00:37:41conceivable
00:37:41experiments
00:37:42might indeed
00:37:43prove hazardous.
00:37:45Those experiments
00:37:46have been prohibited
00:37:47by the NIH
00:37:48guidelines.
00:37:48We brought in
00:37:50physicians
00:37:50in particular
00:37:51who said
00:37:53these people
00:37:54are creating
00:37:56the understanding
00:37:58that we will be
00:37:59able to take
00:37:59to our patients.
00:38:00You want us
00:38:01to be doing this.
00:38:04And so
00:38:04Vellucci,
00:38:05in a way,
00:38:05in order to get
00:38:06out of it,
00:38:08sets up
00:38:09this community
00:38:09panel.
00:38:12And I don't know,
00:38:12the guy who ran it
00:38:13delivered oil
00:38:14and, uh,
00:38:16there was one nurse
00:38:17who had some
00:38:19training in biology,
00:38:21but that was it.
00:38:23They were very
00:38:25thoughtful.
00:38:26They asked
00:38:27the questions
00:38:28that bothered them.
00:38:30They delved
00:38:31into it,
00:38:31they began
00:38:32to understand it,
00:38:32and they began
00:38:33to realize
00:38:33that the power
00:38:35of this new
00:38:36technology,
00:38:36the promise of it,
00:38:38far outweighed
00:38:39the danger of it.
00:38:40They came back
00:38:54and said,
00:38:54we think the NIH
00:38:56guidelines are
00:38:56the right response.
00:38:58And that
00:38:58finished it off.
00:39:01The Cambridge,
00:39:01Massachusetts,
00:39:02City Council
00:39:03has ended
00:39:03an eight-month debate
00:39:04by giving the go-ahead
00:39:06for controversial
00:39:06genetic research
00:39:08to Harvard
00:39:08and MIT.
00:39:10We were happy.
00:39:13It was really exciting.
00:39:16I had some
00:39:16of the best postdocs
00:39:18in the world
00:39:18coming to work
00:39:19with me,
00:39:20and Melissa
00:39:20being an example.
00:39:22Phil's lab
00:39:23was all kinds
00:39:24of notes
00:39:25and things
00:39:26written on the walls
00:39:27and looked like
00:39:28a bomb had gone off.
00:39:30He did not want
00:39:31to renovate the lab
00:39:31because he did not
00:39:32want to shut down
00:39:33and stop any experiments.
00:39:36Humble and reserved
00:39:37as he was,
00:39:38he would be
00:39:39the first person
00:39:40to tell you
00:39:40about your competitor.
00:39:42He used to tell me
00:39:43about Roger Kornberg
00:39:44all the time.
00:39:45He really saw us
00:39:46as a basketball team
00:39:48where we needed
00:39:49to win
00:39:50and beat
00:39:50the other teams.
00:39:53There was
00:39:53the Maniatis team
00:39:54at Harvard
00:39:55that he was
00:39:56extremely competitive
00:39:57with.
00:39:57There was
00:39:58Jen Stites' team
00:39:59at Yale.
00:40:00Unbelievable!
00:40:01He would walk
00:40:02through the lab
00:40:02and he'd do this.
00:40:06Any breakthroughs today?
00:40:08Yes, Phil.
00:40:09It's very competitive,
00:40:11but that's what
00:40:11you need to make
00:40:13sometimes big advances
00:40:15in science,
00:40:16and it's a great motivator.
00:40:19It was his calm way
00:40:24of saying,
00:40:25this matters,
00:40:26let's get to it
00:40:28because there's lots
00:40:29to figure out
00:40:30and lots of people
00:40:30who are trying
00:40:31to figure it out.
00:40:32in the case
00:40:42of the physics revolution,
00:40:43we figured out
00:40:44the atom.
00:40:45In the case
00:40:46of the digital revolution,
00:40:47we figured out
00:40:48the bit.
00:40:49And now,
00:40:50with the life sciences
00:40:51revolution,
00:40:52we have figured out
00:40:54both the fundamental
00:40:55unit of heredity,
00:40:58the gene
00:40:58and how it's encoded,
00:41:00and the fundamental
00:41:01unit of life,
00:41:02which is the cell.
00:41:04Cells are the basic
00:41:05building blocks
00:41:06of all living things.
00:41:08The human body
00:41:09has trillions of them,
00:41:11most of which
00:41:11carry DNA.
00:41:15The central dogma
00:41:16of biology
00:41:16is that information
00:41:18flows from DNA
00:41:19to RNA
00:41:19to protein.
00:41:21Where DNA
00:41:21is the master copy,
00:41:22RNA is the temporary
00:41:24instructions
00:41:25to make the protein,
00:41:26and the protein
00:41:27does the work.
00:41:30Within the human body,
00:41:32proteins are essential
00:41:34for nearly every task
00:41:35of cellular life,
00:41:37including the production
00:41:38of muscle,
00:41:39bone,
00:41:40enzymes,
00:41:41antibodies,
00:41:42and hormones
00:41:42like insulin.
00:41:43The central dogma
00:41:48of biology
00:41:49is that the DNA
00:41:50encodes the genes
00:41:52that we have,
00:41:54but that RNA
00:41:55then takes that code
00:41:57and goes to the region
00:41:59of the cell
00:42:00that builds proteins
00:42:01and tells the cell
00:42:03what protein to build.
00:42:05That central dogma
00:42:08sort of explains
00:42:09how all of life works.
00:42:11for the body
00:42:13to coordinate
00:42:14all of its activities.
00:42:16There are 20,000 genes,
00:42:18and each gene
00:42:18has many different ways
00:42:20that it functions.
00:42:22How do cells
00:42:23actually transfer
00:42:24this incredible storehouse
00:42:26of historic,
00:42:27hereditary information
00:42:28and make thousands
00:42:29of proteins and cells
00:42:30that in this highly
00:42:31orchestrated way
00:42:32do magic?
00:42:33We're really trying
00:42:46to understand
00:42:47what causes disease,
00:42:48what happens biologically
00:42:50and molecularly
00:42:52to cause disease.
00:42:56There had been
00:42:57a realization
00:42:57that many human diseases
00:42:59are caused
00:43:00by the lack
00:43:01of a particular protein.
00:43:03But where are
00:43:04the instructions
00:43:05to make those proteins?
00:43:07No one knew,
00:43:09and that's what
00:43:10motivates scientists,
00:43:11is to dig deep
00:43:11into understanding
00:43:12how these things work.
00:43:13That's what motivated
00:43:14Phil Sharp.
00:43:17One of the things
00:43:18I set my mind to do
00:43:21was to basically
00:43:22understand how
00:43:24DNA could focus
00:43:27on a gene
00:43:27and control it.
00:43:31The objective
00:43:31of Phil's work
00:43:32was to understand
00:43:35how our genes,
00:43:37our human genes,
00:43:38are expressed in cells.
00:43:41So in your piece of DNA,
00:43:44you had two ends,
00:43:45then you had this loop,
00:43:47this bubble.
00:43:48So that was my task,
00:43:49to take pictures
00:43:50of dozens
00:43:51of these molecules
00:43:52and measure the two ends
00:43:54and measure the loops.
00:43:56What I noticed
00:43:59was that
00:44:00at the end
00:44:01of the loops
00:44:02were two tails
00:44:04that were extending out.
00:44:06They were single-stranded RNA,
00:44:08but they weren't
00:44:09pairing with anything.
00:44:12I showed him to Phil,
00:44:13and he said,
00:44:13it must be an artifact,
00:44:15so go back
00:44:15and change your conditions,
00:44:17change the temperature,
00:44:18add a little more salt,
00:44:20see if you can
00:44:21get those to go away.
00:44:23So I did that
00:44:24for several weeks.
00:44:25No luck.
00:44:26Nothing changed.
00:44:28Little tail was still there.
00:44:31So it was puzzling
00:44:33as to why this RNA
00:44:35was not part of the DNA.
00:44:41That's when David Baltimore
00:44:43came up with the idea,
00:44:44well,
00:44:45it must be coming
00:44:45from somewhere
00:44:46on the viral genome.
00:44:48why don't you use
00:44:49a longer piece
00:44:50of DNA?
00:44:52She had just
00:44:53made the preparation,
00:44:56took it to the
00:44:56electron microscope.
00:45:01We sat there
00:45:02and looked
00:45:02and looked
00:45:03and looked,
00:45:03and it turns out
00:45:05being dyslexic
00:45:08is good for this
00:45:10because you depend
00:45:12on binding patterns
00:45:14and what you visually see.
00:45:17And I realized
00:45:20that the RNAs
00:45:21were being made
00:45:22in a big, long piece
00:45:23and pieces of it
00:45:25were being picked
00:45:27to be spliced together
00:45:29to make this message.
00:45:30Gene after gene
00:45:32were in pieces,
00:45:33separated by junk,
00:45:35and this junk
00:45:36has to be removed
00:45:37and the pieces
00:45:38joined together,
00:45:39which had never
00:45:41been seen before.
00:45:44I saw it.
00:45:45I know it.
00:45:47I was screaming
00:45:47obscenities.
00:45:49It was so mind-blowing.
00:45:51It was,
00:45:52it was,
00:45:53oh,
00:45:54holy,
00:45:55you know what?
00:45:56What is going on here?
00:45:59So our DNA
00:46:00is this very long
00:46:02molecule,
00:46:03extremely long.
00:46:05Each nucleotide
00:46:06is like a frame
00:46:07in a film.
00:46:10Information
00:46:11and junk.
00:46:15Information
00:46:15and junk.
00:46:20And the only way
00:46:21it makes sense
00:46:22is if you can stitch
00:46:23the parts
00:46:24that make sense together
00:46:25and get rid of
00:46:26the intervening parts
00:46:27that don't make any sense.
00:46:29Crazy!
00:46:30There's so much science,
00:46:32often beautiful,
00:46:33amazing science,
00:46:34and you're seeing
00:46:35things that
00:46:36nobody else
00:46:38has seen on the planet.
00:46:50I remember sitting
00:46:51on the floor
00:46:52in the big lecture room
00:46:54at Cold Spring Harbor,
00:46:56suddenly hearing
00:46:57this fantastic story
00:46:58that the RNA molecules
00:47:01made by a virus
00:47:02were chopped
00:47:04into pieces
00:47:04and recombined
00:47:05into smaller units
00:47:06that finally then
00:47:09coded for proteins.
00:47:11Very exciting moment.
00:47:12it turns out that
00:47:16many hereditary diseases
00:47:18are caused by mutations
00:47:20that affect
00:47:20the splicing.
00:47:22So the splicing
00:47:22doesn't get done
00:47:24or it gets done wrong
00:47:25that can cause
00:47:27muscular dystrophy
00:47:28or influence cancers.
00:47:32These mistakes occur
00:47:33and they're passed on
00:47:36to the next generation.
00:47:42Phil's discovery
00:47:43attracts a lot
00:47:44of attention.
00:47:47Sharp gets approached
00:47:48about setting up
00:47:49a second biotech company.
00:47:53Phil's first comment
00:47:55was,
00:47:55you've got to get
00:47:56Wally Gilbert involved.
00:47:57An extraordinarily
00:47:58talented,
00:48:00brilliant man.
00:48:04I was skeptical
00:48:05because I had no idea
00:48:06of how to organize
00:48:08or run a company
00:48:09or really what would
00:48:10be involved at all.
00:48:12We had to decide
00:48:13is this going to be
00:48:14worth doing
00:48:15and worth not
00:48:17in the sense
00:48:18of making money
00:48:18but worth doing
00:48:19in some greater
00:48:21social sense.
00:48:23There was a lot
00:48:24of skepticism
00:48:25back in the 70s
00:48:26skepticism
00:48:28both in ourselves
00:48:29and in
00:48:30people surrounding us.
00:48:35We were all
00:48:37looking at each other.
00:48:38You know,
00:48:38should we do this?
00:48:42I seriously
00:48:43thought about it.
00:48:44Have I overestimated
00:48:46what I can do
00:48:47and what's possible
00:48:48to do?
00:48:50What is success?
00:48:53Can I deal with it
00:48:54if it doesn't work out?
00:48:56I didn't know.
00:48:58But I did know
00:48:59I had the best people
00:49:01on earth
00:49:02who were involved
00:49:03in it
00:49:04as scientists
00:49:04and there were
00:49:06some business people
00:49:07who were helping us.
00:49:08The vision
00:49:09of creating
00:49:11a whole private sector
00:49:14to help patients
00:49:16built on genetic manipulation
00:49:20was like
00:49:22having an opportunity
00:49:23to create the future.
00:49:31It was
00:49:31step forward
00:49:33and see
00:49:33where it would go.
00:49:40We organized
00:49:41the company
00:49:41with a million dollars,
00:49:43took space
00:49:45in a little laboratory.
00:49:48As Biogen grows,
00:49:50it moves
00:49:50from a small
00:49:51rented lab
00:49:52into a newly
00:49:53constructed
00:49:53Cambridge facility.
00:49:58Cambridge had guidelines
00:50:00for recombinant DNA
00:50:01and almost everyone
00:50:03who understood
00:50:04this technology
00:50:04was a student
00:50:05or a postdoc
00:50:07or a faculty member
00:50:08in an academic institution.
00:50:14The founding principle
00:50:16of MIT
00:50:16is that
00:50:17we help
00:50:18the industrialization
00:50:18of America
00:50:19to transfer technology
00:50:21from our labs
00:50:23into companies.
00:50:25So being
00:50:26adjacent to MIT
00:50:27was just
00:50:28a beautiful location
00:50:30to recruit people to.
00:50:33Wally Gilbert
00:50:33was CEO
00:50:34at that stage.
00:50:35So I'd take over,
00:50:38go on leave
00:50:39from Harvard
00:50:39and run Biogen,
00:50:40starting in the middle
00:50:42of 1981.
00:50:44I ran that company
00:50:45from 40 people
00:50:47to 400.
00:50:49It was a real
00:50:49beehive of activity.
00:50:52People were there
00:50:53at all hours,
00:50:54both days on the weekends,
00:50:56busting their butts.
00:50:58His work
00:50:59always had
00:51:00high priority.
00:51:02Family had
00:51:03highest priority.
00:51:05But we often
00:51:07had to
00:51:08step back
00:51:09a little bit.
00:51:14As Biogen's labs
00:51:16start humming
00:51:17in Cambridge,
00:51:18Genentech's progress
00:51:19accelerates
00:51:20in San Francisco.
00:51:22But they need
00:51:23more money
00:51:24to continue
00:51:24their quest
00:51:25to produce
00:51:26human insulin.
00:51:28In October 1980,
00:51:30Genentech makes history
00:51:31by going public.
00:51:32It was one of the
00:51:38wildest days
00:51:39on Wall Street
00:51:40in a long time.
00:51:41The one word
00:51:42on every broker's lips
00:51:43was Gene,
00:51:44trading symbol
00:51:45for Genentech,
00:51:46the first genetic
00:51:47engineering company
00:51:48to offer its stock
00:51:49to the public.
00:51:50Every call on the board
00:51:51was Genentech.
00:51:52In just 20 minutes,
00:51:54the value of Genentech's
00:51:55stock doubled.
00:51:56By the end of trading,
00:51:57the small San Francisco
00:51:59company was worth
00:52:00a half billion dollars
00:52:01on paper.
00:52:02It was an incredible
00:52:04performance,
00:52:05especially considering
00:52:06that Genentech
00:52:07had yet to bring
00:52:08a single product
00:52:09to market.
00:52:10There's something
00:52:11about the American
00:52:13risk appetite
00:52:13that says,
00:52:14I'm willing
00:52:15to put my chips
00:52:16on the table
00:52:17and make a bet.
00:52:18Get me up a half
00:52:19of Genentech.
00:52:22We're making
00:52:23a lot of progress,
00:52:24but it's still
00:52:25a great deal
00:52:26of work
00:52:27has to be done.
00:52:29Swanson attributed
00:52:30the IPO's success
00:52:31to the public's
00:52:32fascination
00:52:33with the emerging
00:52:34field of genetic
00:52:35engineering,
00:52:36saying,
00:52:37It was a kind
00:52:38of technology
00:52:39that can capture
00:52:40people's imaginations.
00:52:42You know,
00:52:43you had people say,
00:52:44oh, put this in the
00:52:45drawer for my grandkids.
00:52:47You know,
00:52:47this is something
00:52:48for the future.
00:52:49I always carry my
00:52:52constitution when I teach,
00:52:53and if you look there
00:52:54at Article I,
00:52:55it begins to promote
00:52:57the progress of science
00:52:58and useful arts.
00:53:00It gives us the right
00:53:01of having a patent.
00:53:03If we discover something,
00:53:05we get to commercialize it.
00:53:07This is uniquely American.
00:53:11It's open to those
00:53:12that say,
00:53:13let's take a risk
00:53:14and try this.
00:53:15This will be hard,
00:53:15but we should do it
00:53:16because something amazing
00:53:17could happen.
00:53:32Phil's early endorsement
00:53:33of Genentech
00:53:34is validated
00:53:35when, in 1982,
00:53:37the first successful
00:53:38gene-spliced medication
00:53:40emerges.
00:53:42Scientists have made
00:53:44human insulin
00:53:45in a laboratory.
00:53:46This could be
00:53:46very important news
00:53:47to the millions
00:53:48of diabetics
00:53:48throughout the world.
00:53:49Ken Gilmore reports.
00:53:51When gene-splicing
00:53:52or recombinant DNA
00:53:53experiments first came
00:53:55to public notice
00:53:55a couple of years ago,
00:53:57backers of the technique
00:53:58predicted that it would
00:53:59lead to important
00:54:00medical advances.
00:54:02Today's news
00:54:02confirms that promise.
00:54:05I mean,
00:54:06it is real human insulin,
00:54:08not pig,
00:54:09not any other species.
00:54:11We just have cells
00:54:12make it.
00:54:12It's pure.
00:54:15It's not going
00:54:15to cause reactions.
00:54:17It's a much better product.
00:54:19When Genentech
00:54:21came up with a way
00:54:22to make synthetic insulin,
00:54:24people realized,
00:54:26OK, we're in a whole new world.
00:54:28And that's what begins
00:54:29this revolution.
00:54:30There's been an exciting
00:54:31breakthrough in research
00:54:32on diabetes.
00:54:34This milestone breakthrough
00:54:36catalyzes a biotechnology boom.
00:54:38Genetic engineering.
00:54:41Medicine's new frontier.
00:54:43Biotechnology Incorporated.
00:54:48If you go back
00:54:49to the inception
00:54:50of the biotechnology industry,
00:54:53the companies were very small
00:54:54and there weren't
00:54:55very many of them.
00:54:57I mean,
00:54:57now we've got 250
00:54:59publicly traded companies
00:55:01over $500 million.
00:55:04Back in 1980,
00:55:05we had less than 15
00:55:07and they were pipsqueaks.
00:55:10So Amgen,
00:55:12Biogen,
00:55:13Chiron,
00:55:14Gilead.
00:55:15Genetics Institute,
00:55:16Vertex,
00:55:17Genzyme,
00:55:18and granddaddy
00:55:19of them all,
00:55:20Biogen.
00:55:27At Mass General,
00:55:28I was a neurologist
00:55:30thinking I could help people.
00:55:32That's why I decided
00:55:32to be a doctor.
00:55:33But, you know,
00:55:34I felt helpless.
00:55:37When I was a resident,
00:55:38we had no disease-modifying
00:55:40treatments for MS.
00:55:42We gave patients steroids.
00:55:44But it wasn't really
00:55:46altering the course
00:55:47of the disease.
00:55:48And I had a medical school
00:55:51classmate to get diagnosed
00:55:52with MS in her first year.
00:55:54And by the time
00:55:55the class graduated,
00:55:56she was already
00:55:57in a wheelchair.
00:55:57And so it's the patients.
00:56:02It really is.
00:56:04And being unable to help them
00:56:05was the primary driver
00:56:06for me coming to biotech.
00:56:10I ended up at Biogen.
00:56:11Back then,
00:56:14it was considered
00:56:15career suicide.
00:56:21Somebody even referred to it
00:56:23as Al is undergoing
00:56:25apoptosis,
00:56:26which is cell death,
00:56:27programmed cell death.
00:56:29That by going to biotech,
00:56:30I was undergoing
00:56:32career death.
00:56:33With the cost of
00:56:37support its drug
00:56:38portfolio growing,
00:56:40Biogen needs to follow
00:56:41Genentech's path
00:56:42by raising money
00:56:43on Wall Street.
00:56:46Goldman Sachs
00:56:47was going to do
00:56:49an IPO
00:56:49and the company
00:56:53become traded
00:56:54on NASDAQ.
00:56:59Although Biogen's
00:57:00initial public offering
00:57:02goes smoothly,
00:57:03the next few years
00:57:04of drug development
00:57:05proved more difficult
00:57:07than expected.
00:57:10Every time you have a boom,
00:57:12you're always going
00:57:12to have a bust.
00:57:13I mean, you have to.
00:57:14It's the law.
00:57:18Our IPO stock value
00:57:20was $23 a share.
00:57:23A few years later,
00:57:24we were trading at four.
00:57:27We had $40 million
00:57:28worth of cash
00:57:30at that stage.
00:57:31That was what
00:57:32we were burning
00:57:33in a year.
00:57:36We were still
00:57:36five years
00:57:37from a product
00:57:39and it didn't feel good
00:57:41because we were concerned
00:57:42that the company
00:57:43wouldn't survive.
00:57:46Time is essential
00:57:47because your company
00:57:49is burning money
00:57:50constantly.
00:57:51And you have to
00:57:53make things happen quickly.
00:57:55If you don't have
00:57:56that ability,
00:57:58the company fails.
00:58:04There's a real
00:58:06advantage in being naive
00:58:08because you can't see
00:58:11all the issues.
00:58:12Did I know you had
00:58:14to raise hundreds
00:58:14of millions of dollars
00:58:15to make a pharmaceutical?
00:58:17Did I know
00:58:18that most companies fail?
00:58:20No.
00:58:21The human body
00:58:24is incredibly complex.
00:58:27There are
00:58:28all kinds of
00:58:29different diseases.
00:58:30The causes
00:58:31are generally unknown.
00:58:33And to develop
00:58:34the science
00:58:34and go through
00:58:35the whole approval process
00:58:37with the FDA
00:58:38and other regulatory
00:58:39agencies
00:58:39is a very risky endeavor.
00:58:45In terms of how much
00:58:46it costs
00:58:47to develop a drug,
00:58:48a roundhouse number
00:58:49would be in the area
00:58:50of $2 billion.
00:58:53It's really hard
00:58:55to find investors.
00:58:57We typically
00:58:58use the term
00:58:59the valley of death.
00:59:01There's so many steps.
00:59:04Phase one,
00:59:06phase two,
00:59:07to phase three
00:59:08where you do
00:59:09two large,
00:59:10well-conducted studies.
00:59:11There's only a 10% likelihood
00:59:14that it'll ultimately
00:59:15be successful.
00:59:16drug development
00:59:21is not
00:59:23for the faint of heart.
00:59:25It's not easy.
00:59:26It takes time.
00:59:28It takes resilience.
00:59:29It takes grit.
00:59:31Especially
00:59:31at the early stages
00:59:32of the company,
00:59:33you know,
00:59:33it's kind of like
00:59:34a newborn baby.
00:59:35It needs nurturing
00:59:36in every way.
00:59:37The investment,
00:59:45the risk,
00:59:46is enormous.
00:59:47You have to have
00:59:48good plans
00:59:49and persevere.
00:59:52Scientists in Boston
00:59:53today claimed
00:59:54a major medical breakthrough.
00:59:55They said
00:59:56they have used bacteria
00:59:57to produce a substance
00:59:59called interferon.
01:00:00Interferon fights
01:00:01many viruses,
01:00:02including those believed
01:00:03to cause many forms
01:00:04of cancer.
01:00:08Biogen produced
01:00:09Alpha Interferon
01:00:10and in 1986
01:00:12it was approved
01:00:14for hairy cell leukemia.
01:00:16It's used
01:00:17for treatment
01:00:18of hepatitis C,
01:00:19hepatitis B.
01:00:21It's still used
01:00:22around the world
01:00:23and rescued Biogen.
01:00:26Biogen grew
01:00:27to many thousand
01:00:29employees.
01:00:33Biogen's Alpha Interferon
01:00:35becomes the first
01:00:36anti-cancer agent
01:00:37recombinantly produced
01:00:39by genetic engineering.
01:00:52Columbus Day
01:00:53in New England,
01:00:55I was sleeping in
01:00:56and it was six
01:00:57in the morning
01:00:58and the telephone rings.
01:01:01Phil goes over
01:01:02to answer the phone.
01:01:05He turns white.
01:01:07I said,
01:01:07oh my gosh,
01:01:09his mother died.
01:01:11That was my reaction.
01:01:13I mean,
01:01:13who calls you
01:01:14at six o'clock
01:01:14in the morning?
01:01:15Mom and Dad
01:01:16had called me
01:01:17that morning
01:01:18and said,
01:01:20have you heard the news?
01:01:22And I said,
01:01:22no, what news?
01:01:24Phil has won
01:01:26the Nobel Prize
01:01:27and I was
01:01:29flabbergasted.
01:01:41When you walk
01:01:42in a room like this
01:01:43and all your colleagues
01:01:44and friends
01:01:44give you a standing O,
01:01:46days don't get better
01:01:47than this.
01:01:48congratulations.
01:01:50Congratulations, folks.
01:01:57For Phil,
01:01:58it was an enormous
01:01:59vindication
01:02:00of the whole trajectory
01:02:03of his life.
01:02:03The Pendleton County,
01:02:07Kentucky community
01:02:08is bursting its buttons
01:02:09with pride tonight.
01:02:11One of their own,
01:02:11a Kentucky boy,
01:02:12has won the Nobel.
01:02:15His parents say
01:02:16Phil was an all-American kid
01:02:17who loved sports,
01:02:18church,
01:02:19and especially science
01:02:20and schoolwork.
01:02:22We never had
01:02:22any worries about him
01:02:23when he was growing up.
01:02:24We trusted him
01:02:25and he fulfilled our trust.
01:02:28I just can't believe
01:02:29I'm a mother
01:02:30of a Nobel Prize winner.
01:02:33One of Phil's
01:02:34two sisters,
01:02:35Joanna,
01:02:36manages the cafeteria
01:02:37at Holmes High School
01:02:38and she's feeling,
01:02:39well,
01:02:39the way you might expect.
01:02:41Very, very proud.
01:02:43Believe me,
01:02:43he does not come
01:02:44from money.
01:02:45This was strictly
01:02:46his drive
01:02:47and his ambition
01:02:48and his talent.
01:02:50And if he can do it,
01:02:51I think other boys
01:02:53and girls should be,
01:02:55say,
01:02:55I can do it too.
01:02:57I was thrilled
01:02:58to death for him,
01:02:59but I had
01:03:00no idea
01:03:01that he was going
01:03:02to take us
01:03:03to Sweden with him.
01:03:05And that was
01:03:05the biggest thrill
01:03:06of our life.
01:03:07and to see him
01:03:28on stage,
01:03:29it just right now
01:03:33makes me cry.
01:03:34So, I was so proud.
01:03:41So, he, uh,
01:03:44he's something else.
01:03:46On our health report
01:03:59tonight,
01:04:00a new drug
01:04:00for people
01:04:01who suffer
01:04:01from multiple sclerosis.
01:04:03In 1996,
01:04:0517 years
01:04:06after the company's
01:04:07founding,
01:04:08the FDA approves
01:04:09Biogen's Avonex,
01:04:11the first ever
01:04:12disease-modifying therapy
01:04:13for multiple sclerosis.
01:04:16The success
01:04:16of Avonex
01:04:17will catalyze
01:04:18the development
01:04:19and approval
01:04:20of a series
01:04:20of life-altering drugs
01:04:22for MS patients.
01:04:24A little spark
01:04:25starts a whole fire
01:04:26and now we have
01:04:2720 therapies
01:04:29for MS.
01:04:30I never would have
01:04:32imagined that
01:04:32as a resident.
01:04:34It's a whole
01:04:35different world.
01:04:36Beyond multiple sclerosis,
01:04:41Biogen has
01:04:4113 FDA-approved drugs,
01:04:44including treatments
01:04:45for Alzheimer's
01:04:46and spinal muscular atrophy.
01:04:57I was working
01:04:57at the Wall Street Journal
01:04:58and I'm interviewing
01:04:59Phil Sharp
01:05:00in around 2002.
01:05:02We were talking
01:05:02about something else
01:05:03but I just said to him,
01:05:04is there anything else
01:05:06important?
01:05:06And he said,
01:05:07yeah, there is
01:05:08and it's RNA interference.
01:05:14In 2002,
01:05:15Phil co-founds
01:05:16El Nilem,
01:05:18a biotech company
01:05:19named for the
01:05:20bright center star
01:05:21in Orion's belt.
01:05:23He's 58 years old
01:05:24and betting
01:05:25that RNA interference,
01:05:28co-discovered
01:05:28by his student
01:05:29Andy Fire,
01:05:30is the future
01:05:31of drug development.
01:05:33Fire's breakthrough
01:05:33genetic research
01:05:34with Craig Mello
01:05:35was published
01:05:36in 1998.
01:05:37They found certain
01:05:38RNA molecules
01:05:39could turn off
01:05:39specific genes
01:05:40in animal cells.
01:05:43The idea is
01:05:44you take a disease
01:05:45where the people
01:05:46are sick
01:05:47because there's
01:05:48a gene there
01:05:49that's out of control
01:05:50and the question is
01:05:51can we shut
01:05:53that gene off?
01:05:56DNA makes RNA
01:05:57makes protein
01:05:58and proteins might
01:05:59either do good
01:06:00or do harm.
01:06:02If they do harm,
01:06:04then you'd want
01:06:05to try to shut
01:06:06that process down.
01:06:08The idea
01:06:09was to take
01:06:10that discovery,
01:06:11really make drugs
01:06:13out of it.
01:06:19Bob and Phil
01:06:20had been collaborating
01:06:22around this company
01:06:23on El Nilem
01:06:24to figure out
01:06:25how to deliver
01:06:27these drugs
01:06:28into cells.
01:06:30And our first
01:06:31technology to do that
01:06:33was lipid nanoparticles.
01:06:37We take a piece of RNA
01:06:38and we encapsulate it
01:06:40in these lipids
01:06:41that allows it
01:06:42to get into cell
01:06:43and do this mechanism
01:06:44of RNA interference.
01:06:45That was the launching
01:06:46point for El Nilem.
01:06:48It was lots and lots
01:06:51of hope and prayer
01:06:51in the beginning.
01:06:52The company went public
01:06:54on zero data.
01:06:57El Nilem,
01:06:58when they went public,
01:07:00they could only
01:07:01raise $30 million
01:07:02and they secured
01:07:04a number of partnerships
01:07:05with a number
01:07:06of pharmaceutical companies.
01:07:09We were going
01:07:10to propel our business
01:07:11by getting in bed
01:07:14with pharma.
01:07:16I say that
01:07:17in the nicest
01:07:18possible way.
01:07:18And then
01:07:25the dark days came
01:07:27where all those
01:07:30pharmaceutical partnerships
01:07:31were terminated.
01:07:33They said,
01:07:34wait a second,
01:07:35this does not fit
01:07:36my five-year plan
01:07:37and that's what
01:07:38they pay me for,
01:07:39so we're gone,
01:07:40we're out of here.
01:07:41There was a conclusion
01:07:43that came
01:07:44in the external world
01:07:45that this whole
01:07:46RNA interference thing,
01:07:48maybe it worked,
01:07:49but it wasn't working
01:07:49as quickly
01:07:50as it should have.
01:07:51And so as
01:07:52pharmaceutical companies
01:07:54publicly pull out,
01:07:57you take a significant hit.
01:07:59We did two rounds
01:08:00of layoffs.
01:08:01It was a real challenge
01:08:02to get people
01:08:03to maintain
01:08:04their enthusiasm
01:08:05and their passion
01:08:07and their grit
01:08:08in light of
01:08:09the external community
01:08:10trash-talking you,
01:08:12your stock being
01:08:13in the toilet,
01:08:14and a general pall.
01:08:20When Big Pharma
01:08:21pulled out,
01:08:22a lot of people
01:08:23just said,
01:08:23oh, this is it,
01:08:24you know,
01:08:25they're not going
01:08:25to be able to make it.
01:08:27We had an off-site
01:08:28and Phil was invited
01:08:30to give the keynote speech.
01:08:32And what he said
01:08:34was this thing
01:08:37that we do
01:08:37in science
01:08:38is hard,
01:08:40but I can feel it
01:08:42that we,
01:08:45the collective group
01:08:46here at Al Mylam,
01:08:47are at the cusp
01:08:48of changing medicine.
01:08:50You guys
01:08:51are going to change medicine
01:08:53with the creation
01:08:54of drugs
01:08:55through RNA interference
01:08:56that change
01:08:57people's lives.
01:08:59I think Alzheimer's
01:09:00is going to be treated
01:09:01with RNAi.
01:09:03I think Parkinson's,
01:09:04I think the central
01:09:05nervous system
01:09:06is a very important
01:09:08part of RNAi.
01:09:11This was at a time
01:09:12when we didn't know
01:09:13nothing about nothing
01:09:14with respect to how
01:09:16we were actually
01:09:16going to make a medicine.
01:09:18It was,
01:09:18I didn't actually
01:09:20think we would fail.
01:09:21I never thought
01:09:22we would fail.
01:09:24We were passionate
01:09:26and driven
01:09:27as we are today,
01:09:28but we were also
01:09:30facing
01:09:31incredible obstacles.
01:09:33For them,
01:09:34I think it was
01:09:35the question
01:09:35of being able
01:09:36to dig in
01:09:36and the need
01:09:37to dig in
01:09:38and just hang on
01:09:39and just wait it out
01:09:41and do all the work
01:09:42that needed to be done,
01:09:43the years of research
01:09:44that it takes.
01:09:46Phil doesn't just think,
01:09:47okay,
01:09:47I'm going to help
01:09:48found this company,
01:09:49but he also thinks,
01:09:50how can I help
01:09:50this company succeed?
01:09:53He would be there
01:09:54at the most roll-up-your-sleeves,
01:09:58basic level,
01:09:59looking at a piece of data.
01:10:02Phil, at the age of,
01:10:03I think Phil is 78 or 79,
01:10:05is still curious enough
01:10:07to ask those hard questions
01:10:09of the scientists.
01:10:11The story about alnylam
01:10:13was one in which
01:10:14they persevered.
01:10:16In 2013,
01:10:17we finally demonstrated
01:10:18that RNAi could be translated
01:10:20to a human body
01:10:21and we showed
01:10:22that it could occur
01:10:23in a patient.
01:10:31For alnylam,
01:10:33they had shots on goal,
01:10:35so there were a number
01:10:35of clinical trials
01:10:36and the one on ATTR,
01:10:38amyloidosis,
01:10:40you know,
01:10:40was the first one
01:10:41that would get approval.
01:10:42That got approved
01:10:43in 2018.
01:10:46By 2024,
01:10:48alnylam's fourth drug
01:10:49was approved.
01:10:50Thousands upon thousands
01:10:53of patients worldwide
01:10:54have already benefited
01:10:56from RNAi-based drugs
01:10:58with the promise
01:10:59for more to come.
01:11:01This wouldn't have happened
01:11:02if we didn't have a culture
01:11:05that we can do
01:11:08impossible things.
01:11:11And we have that culture
01:11:12and it's very precious
01:11:13to have that culture.
01:11:15And we have to take risks
01:11:16to take that culture
01:11:18and really move
01:11:21this whole field
01:11:22into new realms.
01:11:36By March of 2020,
01:11:38Phil's confidence
01:11:39in the power
01:11:40of the RNA revolution
01:11:41will be put
01:11:42to an extraordinary test.
01:11:48Moderna,
01:11:49a small Cambridge-based biotech
01:11:51focused on driving
01:11:53the next generation
01:11:54of RNA technology,
01:11:56has traveled a risky path
01:11:57for 10 years.
01:11:58when we started Moderna,
01:12:01we started with
01:12:03only one thing,
01:12:05which was a leap of faith.
01:12:07I remember actually
01:12:09being in a room
01:12:10with Nubar,
01:12:11the chairman
01:12:12and the CEO,
01:12:13whiteboard,
01:12:14and they showed
01:12:15one scientific experiment
01:12:16that they had done,
01:12:18and this was to
01:12:19really unlock
01:12:20the power
01:12:21of messenger RNA.
01:12:22The idea
01:12:24was to use
01:12:26messenger RNA
01:12:26to make any protein
01:12:28you want.
01:12:29You could make it
01:12:29more rapidly,
01:12:30you could make it
01:12:31to treat diseases
01:12:33that you couldn't
01:12:33treat before.
01:12:35Infectious disease,
01:12:36cancer,
01:12:37rare diseases,
01:12:38it was really
01:12:39an industry
01:12:39in a company.
01:12:41The whole philosophy
01:12:42behind it
01:12:43was that we're going
01:12:43to do this big pipeline,
01:12:45they're going to raise
01:12:45a ton of money,
01:12:46which they did,
01:12:47build a whole company
01:12:48around it
01:12:49and do a pipeline
01:12:50of products.
01:12:51Boldly,
01:12:53Moderna has taken
01:12:53an unprecedented risk,
01:12:56spending $110 million
01:12:57building a manufacturing
01:12:59facility in Massachusetts
01:13:00before receiving
01:13:02FDA approval
01:13:03to produce
01:13:04even a single drug.
01:13:06We raised
01:13:08$600 million
01:13:09for them
01:13:09in the initial
01:13:10public offering.
01:13:11Moderna's
01:13:12initial public offering
01:13:13is the largest
01:13:14in biotech history.
01:13:17Instead of injecting
01:13:18insulin,
01:13:18instead of injecting
01:13:19this, that,
01:13:20or the other,
01:13:20all of biotech,
01:13:21we can now make
01:13:22cells do that.
01:13:23That was the big idea.
01:13:25But there was a cloud
01:13:27of skepticism
01:13:27around Moderna
01:13:28because that idea
01:13:30was not working.
01:13:32And they tried
01:13:32and they tried
01:13:33and they tried
01:13:34and it kept
01:13:35getting closer
01:13:36but not quite there,
01:13:37getting closer
01:13:38but not quite there.
01:13:40Discovery,
01:13:41failure.
01:13:42Discovery,
01:13:43failure.
01:13:44Year by year.
01:13:45There was a lot
01:13:47of backtalk
01:13:48about the way
01:13:49that they ran
01:13:49the company,
01:13:51the way that they
01:13:51were raising money
01:13:52and there was just
01:13:53too much money
01:13:54and they were going
01:13:54to burn their investors
01:13:56and everybody
01:13:56was going to just
01:13:57go away mad.
01:13:58You know,
01:14:01people saying
01:14:02it's going to be
01:14:02the next Theranos
01:14:03and things like that.
01:14:05The Boston Globe,
01:14:07they would write
01:14:08nasty things
01:14:08about Moderna
01:14:09saying this is not
01:14:12how you do science.
01:14:13They'd talk to a bunch
01:14:14of so-called experts.
01:14:16Also,
01:14:16they'd put my picture
01:14:17on the front page
01:14:18right underneath
01:14:18that headline.
01:14:19The odds are
01:14:25always against you.
01:14:30And the odds
01:14:30are against you
01:14:31because if you're
01:14:31doing something
01:14:32that's never been
01:14:32done before,
01:14:33until you do it,
01:14:34it's not going to work.
01:14:39After years of struggle
01:14:40to successfully
01:14:41make RNA medicines,
01:14:43Moderna decides
01:14:44to build upon
01:14:45lipid nanoparticle work
01:14:46pioneered by Phil
01:14:48and Bob Langer
01:14:49at L. Nylem.
01:14:51That same lipid
01:14:52nanoparticle process
01:14:53is what delivers
01:14:55the messenger RNA
01:14:57to cells.
01:14:58A turning point
01:14:59at Moderna
01:14:59was actually
01:15:00maybe we should
01:15:01take the mRNA
01:15:02that's in these
01:15:03lipid nanoparticles
01:15:04and see whether
01:15:05it works as a vaccine.
01:15:07And the results
01:15:07were so stunning
01:15:08they didn't believe it.
01:15:09Moderna decides
01:15:10to pivot
01:15:11to developing drugs
01:15:12against the most
01:15:13challenging
01:15:14of infectious diseases.
01:15:16Moderna was this
01:15:17company that was
01:15:18exciting and
01:15:19controversial
01:15:19in the little
01:15:20tiny bubble
01:15:21of biotech people.
01:15:22Little did we know
01:15:23that COVID
01:15:24would come
01:15:25and then biotech
01:15:26would be
01:15:26in the center.
01:15:28Absolutely the focus
01:15:29of the world.
01:15:32A SARS-like virus
01:15:34which has infected
01:15:34hundreds in China
01:15:35has now reached
01:15:37the United States.
01:15:38the virus has now spread
01:15:39to more than 60 countries
01:15:41and counting.
01:15:42More than 3 billion people
01:15:45in almost 70 countries
01:15:46and territories
01:15:47have been asked
01:15:48to stay at home.
01:15:50It's emotionally hard
01:15:51to prepare for this level
01:15:53of sickness and suffering.
01:15:56Scientists are our best hope
01:15:58to end the coronavirus pandemic.
01:16:00We all felt such
01:16:04a compelling sense
01:16:06of urgency
01:16:06and it was all
01:16:08hands on deck.
01:16:11The scientific community,
01:16:12international scientific community,
01:16:14joined forces
01:16:14and shared information
01:16:16at unprecedented basis.
01:16:20It was January 11th
01:16:22in China
01:16:22but January 10th here
01:16:24the sequence was posted
01:16:25on a public server.
01:16:28That allowed Moderna
01:16:30to turn that information
01:16:31into a product
01:16:32with record speed.
01:16:36It took us one hour
01:16:39to design the mRNA.
01:16:40One hour.
01:16:42We only designed one mRNA.
01:16:44That's the mRNA
01:16:45that ended up in spike backs.
01:16:49And so we had
01:16:49all the manufacturing equipment
01:16:52and the quality controls
01:16:53and everything in place.
01:16:55made that clinical material
01:16:57in 45 days
01:16:58and then shipped it off
01:17:02to NIH
01:17:02to do the clinical trials.
01:17:05We broke the code
01:17:06on what's now
01:17:07the phase 3 trial
01:17:08which was 30,000 patients,
01:17:1015,000 placebo,
01:17:1115,000 getting the vaccine
01:17:13and the results
01:17:14were remarkable.
01:17:16A vaccine developed
01:17:17by Moderna
01:17:18showing a 94.5% efficacy rate
01:17:21in a trial
01:17:22with 30,000 participants.
01:17:25The invention
01:17:29and approval
01:17:29of Moderna's
01:17:30COVID vaccine
01:17:31took nine months.
01:17:34Prior to COVID
01:17:35no vaccine
01:17:37had ever been developed
01:17:38in fewer than four years.
01:17:41As of 2024
01:17:4313 billion COVID shots
01:17:46have been given worldwide.
01:17:47the World Health Organization
01:17:51estimates
01:17:51this has saved
01:17:52over 20 million lives.
01:17:59Yeah, man.
01:18:01Yeah.
01:18:02These guys
01:18:03that have been
01:18:04doing this thing
01:18:05for years
01:18:06did it.
01:18:08I'm from Canada
01:18:10and so we did not
01:18:11have access
01:18:12to the vaccine
01:18:13as easily
01:18:13as in the United States
01:18:15but I looked
01:18:17to get access
01:18:18from my parents
01:18:19as quickly as possible.
01:18:20They're 98 and 93.
01:18:21It was actually
01:18:27really emotional.
01:18:29I'm getting emotional
01:18:29but it was incredible
01:18:31to see that.
01:18:34We talk about the vaccine
01:18:36as if it boom
01:18:37happened in a year
01:18:38and how amazing it was.
01:18:39You have 40 years
01:18:40of people trying
01:18:41to figure out
01:18:42how do we harness
01:18:43the power of RNA
01:18:44and what you also have
01:18:46is you have companies
01:18:47Moderna being
01:18:48a great example
01:18:48where they keep
01:18:49trying and failing
01:18:50and trying and failing
01:18:52but eventually
01:18:53they figure out
01:18:54how do we get that
01:18:56into ourself
01:18:56and when you look
01:18:58at all the science
01:18:59that led up to it
01:19:00you realize
01:19:01it was a miracle
01:19:03but it was
01:19:03a man-made miracle.
01:19:09It harkens back again
01:19:11to the 1970s
01:19:13Dr. Sharp's work.
01:19:14Here we are
01:19:1540 years on
01:19:16we're still evolving
01:19:17attributing great science
01:19:18and breakthroughs
01:19:21to one man's research.
01:19:27He's had this
01:19:28beautiful opportunity
01:19:30to impact science
01:19:31from the foundations
01:19:33of an understanding
01:19:34of mRNA
01:19:34to the development
01:19:35of a world-changing vaccine.
01:19:37That's pretty incredible.
01:19:42We have entered
01:19:43a new era of medicine
01:19:45and it's medicines
01:19:47based on RNA
01:19:48and DNA.
01:19:51There are all sorts
01:19:53of things
01:19:54that we're learning
01:19:54how to do
01:19:55and we're going to learn
01:19:56how to do it a lot more.
01:19:58We combine that with AI
01:19:59and I don't know
01:20:00where we go.
01:20:01There doesn't seem
01:20:04to be any problem
01:20:06that we can't solve
01:20:07if we put our minds
01:20:08if we put our minds
01:20:08to it.
01:20:11Seeing technology
01:20:12going from
01:20:13a discovery
01:20:15in a laboratory
01:20:16all the way
01:20:17through helping patients
01:20:20and that's as good
01:20:22as it gets.
01:20:23You know,
01:20:24it's sort of
01:20:25why you do science.
01:20:27In 2024 alone,
01:20:36more than 7.6 billion people
01:20:38were treated
01:20:39with a biotechnology drug
01:20:41including medications
01:20:43for prostate cancer,
01:20:45ovarian cancer,
01:20:47HIV,
01:20:49sickle cell disease,
01:20:52stroke,
01:20:52and rare genetic diseases.
01:20:57Biotech has become
01:21:00a powerful catalyst
01:21:01for economic growth
01:21:03in the U.S.
01:21:04and increasingly
01:21:05the world.
01:21:08One company in the world,
01:21:10two companies,
01:21:11there are now thousands
01:21:12of biotechnology companies.
01:21:14They're all over the world.
01:21:15And lo and behold,
01:21:16there are more
01:21:17per square mile
01:21:18in Kendall Square
01:21:19in Cambridge
01:21:20than anywhere else.
01:21:27What did transition
01:21:2950 years make?
01:21:36I feel
01:21:38incredibly privileged
01:21:41that this has happened
01:21:44to Phil
01:21:45and this has happened
01:21:47to me.
01:21:47We were teenagers
01:21:50when we met.
01:21:52We have grown up together
01:21:53and the adventure
01:21:55we have been on
01:21:56has been totally amazing.
01:22:00Something that would
01:22:01never have dawned on me
01:22:04as I was growing up.
01:22:05I clearly feel blessed
01:22:17in a really fundamental way.
01:22:24But I want to see
01:22:26if I can continue
01:22:27for a little while longer
01:22:28because it makes me feel useful.
01:22:32It makes me feel
01:22:33that I'm helping others
01:22:35and that's what I want to do.
01:23:03Boy, it's a journey.
01:23:33It makes me feel
01:24:03Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
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