The year was 2012.

The much-anticipated apocalypse, as forecasted by some readings of the Mayan Calendar, did not come to pass.

For better or worse.

So, of course, we all had to awkwardly slink back to work on January 1st and apologize to our bosses.

(Or was that just me?)

Instead, something even more unexpected happened: a revolution in medicine began.

While preppers were busy stockpiling doomsday beans… Emily Whitehead was undergoing a revolutionary biotech treatment.

You might recall the story.

Emily was only six when diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). After her parents tried all the go-to treatments and ran out of options, they took a leap of faith with an experimental therapy - CAR-T cell therapy.

The story goes like this: T-cells, the immune system’s foot soldiers, are always on the lookout for intruders. Normally, they’re pretty good at their job.

But cancer cells are sneaky.

Like a politician during a budget crisis, they hide, they disguise themselves. They evolve.

So, scientists asked, what if we could give these T-cells a new set of eyes… a way to spot cancer no matter how well it hides?

That’s where the “chimeric antigen receptor,” or CAR, comes in.

Scientists take a patient’s T-cells and send them to boot camp in the lab. There, they’re “trained” to express CARs, which are like high-tech surveillance equipment.

Putting it plainly:

Doctors took Emily’s T-cells, equipped them with special “find and destroy” orders for cancer cells, and sent them back into her body.

And guess what? Within weeks, Emily’s leukemia was in full retreat. She became the first pediatric patient to be saved by this groundbreaking therapy.

Her story gained worldwide attention and has been featured in various media outlets, including a documentary called Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies.

And so far so good.

Alas, there’s a catch: CAR-T therapy isn’t perfect.

It can cause severe side effects, like cytokine release syndrome, where the immune system goes into overdrive, leading to high fever and inflammation.

If chemotherapy is like using a sledgehammer to fix a watch…

Then CAR-T is like using a flamethrower to take out a mosquito - effective, yes, but also potentially hazardous.

And then there’s the cost.

From snout to tail, CAR-T therapy can cost up to $1 million per patient, putting it well out of reach for the many.

Fast forward to today…

We’re riding the wave of another medical revolution - this time fueled by artificial intelligence.

Super Molecule Shufflers

As you read this, AI-driven platforms are supercharging their abilities to design custom drugs at unprecedented speeds and cost.

Take the case of a recent patient with a rare form of cystic fibrosis. By decoding the patient’s genetic quirks, AI quickly pinpointed a promising molecule, which then passed preclinical tests with flying colors.

Boom.

A process that used to take years now took mere months.

Moreover, AI can help determine the optimal dosage for each patient, reducing the risk of adverse reactions and the costs associated with treating those reactions

To be sure, the implications of programmable personalized medicine extend beyond rare diseases.

For common conditions like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, AI can help identify which treatments are most likely to be effective for different patient subgroups - all based on their genetic makeup, lifestyle, and environmental factors.

This precision medicine approach not only improves outcomes but also reduces the trial-and-error aspect of treatment.

This is the promise of programmable personalized medicine: leveraging advanced tech to decode biology and deliver the best possible therapies, quickly and affordably.

All that’s to say…

If you’re still stocking up on beans, waiting for the world to end…

Perhaps you should hedge your bets and stock up on some biotech, too.