An almost unbelievable story unfolded in Australia, offering a glimpse into the potential that people have to achieve great things with AI and use it for good. In 2019, Australian AI entrepreneur Paul Steven Conyngham adopted Rosie, an eight-year-old mixed-breed female dog, from an animal shelter. But five years later, their happy life together was cast into shadow.
She was diagnosed with life-threatening mast cell cancer. Since conventional surgery and chemotherapy had shown little success, Conyngham decided to ask ChatGPT who he could turn to. The chatbot recommended that he contact the Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) to ask if they would be interested in pursuing an experimental approach. The plan was to synthesize a vaccine tailored specifically to Rosie, using the exact same approach we know from mRNA vaccines and COVID.
First, Conyngham had Rosie’s DNA sequenced at the Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics at UNSW for 3,000 Australian dollars. Using this vast amount of genetic data, Conyngham employed AlphaFold—an AI program developed by Google DeepMind that predicts the 3D structure of proteins—to model a protein called c-KIT, which triggers mast cell cancer in dogs. Based on anomalies in this tumor protein, he identified a drug that might be effective against Rosie’s cancer. When the press release was published last summer, he was still in the process of obtaining this drug.
In collaboration with UNSW, a customized mRNA vaccine was then developed using Rosie’s tumor. After some difficulty finding a veterinarian willing to administer the vaccine to Rosie, it was finally administered in December 2025.
So far, the vaccine seems to be working, as a “tennis-ball-sized tumor” on Rosie’s hind leg has shrunk by half. Even though Rosie isn’t completely cured, she is visibly doing better. Conyngham and the UNSW researchers are currently working on another vaccine, as a second tumor has appeared that hasn’t responded as well to the first vaccine.
What is remarkable is that Conyngham has no background in biology or medicine. And yet, with the help of AlphaFold and ChatGPT, and in collaboration with the University of New South Wales, he was able to develop a personalized vaccine. For now, it’s for his dog, but the potential to create similar personalized medications and vaccines for humans is clear.
Regulatory hurdles turned out to be the biggest obstacle. While the vaccine could be developed in a very short period of time, clinical trials take years, not months. Obtaining approval for the drug and preparing doctors to administer and prescribe it also takes a long time.
Source: Cancer Health