--- title: "These Scientists Are Testing an Experimental COVID Vaccine on Themselves" description: "Using just a pipette and a magnetic stirring device, a ragtag group of scientists is attempting to fast track the development of a COVID vaccine." date: "2020-07-29" modified: "2020-07-29" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-testing-covid-vaccine-themselves" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Viruses" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "fda" - "george church" - "vaccine" --- # These Scientists Are Testing an Experimental COVID Vaccine on Themselves ![Using just a pipette and a magnetic stirring device, a ragtag group of scientists is attempting to fast track the development of a COVID vaccine.]() *\Image: Marco Verch via Flickr\* An [impressive scoop]() by the *MIT Technology Review*: Using simple lab tools, a ragtag group of scientists cobbled together their own grey-market COVID-19 vaccine — and instead of jumping through the usual hoops for a clinical trial, they're testing it on themselves. The group calls itself the Rapid Deployment Vaccine Collaborative (Radvac.) Led by celebrity Harvard geneticist George Church, the team set out to find "a simple formula that you could make with readily available materials," as Preston Estep, Church's former graduate student at Harvard and leader of the project, told *MIT Tech*. The group came up with a vaccine, which consists of bits of protein that match the coronavirus, but aren't able to cause disease. They even posted a [white paper]() detailing how to cook it up yourself. Similar approaches have been used to make other vaccines, as *MIT Tech* points out, including for hepatitis B and HPV. The group quickly found several volunteers who were willing to squirt the makeshift vaccine up their noses using a pump, which they believe could create a local immunity in the tissues of the airway. Despite not making any claims about the effectiveness of their vaccine, Radvac has now given materials to dozens of friends and colleagues. In fact, Estep told *MIT Tech that he's* lost track of how many people have taken it so far. In sum, it's an extremely deviant approach compared to the staid world of conventional pharmaceutical research. Unsurprisingly, that's alramed some skeptics. "It’s not the best idea — especially in this case, you could make things worse,” George Siber, the former head of vaccines at Wyeth, a Pennsylvania-based pharmaceutical company, told *MIT Tech*. “You really need to know what you are doing here.” The project could run into trouble with the Food and Drug Administration, according to *MIT Tech*. Money may not be changing hands and each user has to sign extensive disclaimers, but regulators could still crack down on the group. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()