Eight-year-old dog Rosie, once abandoned in bushland, found a new lease on life when Sydney tech entrepreneur Paul Conyngham adopted the staffy-shar pei mix from a local animal shelter in 2019, just as pandemic lockdowns were beginning.

Heartbreak followed in 2024, when Rosie was diagnosed with aggressive mast cell cancer. Conyngham invested heavily in veterinary chemotherapy and surgery, treatments that slowed but failed to shrink the tumours. 

Over the Christmas break, a custom mRNA cancer vaccine produced stunning results: the tennis ball-sized tumour on Rosie’s hock has halved, leaving researchers leading the field of human cancer therapy amazed at the treatment’s potential.

Chatbot and genetic data pave the way for breakthrough

Using advanced technology, Conyngham turned to a chatbot to explore potential treatments for Rosie’s cancer before deploying artificial intelligence to analyze gigabytes of genetic data and design a blueprint for a custom mRNA vaccine. 

He then enlisted some of Australia’s top scientists to produce the vaccine in laboratories at the University of NSW and located the sole veterinary researcher with ethics approval to administer the experimental drug. Conyngham’s unusual request drew the attention of the UNSW Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics: he wanted his dog’s DNA sequenced after ChatGPT suggested immunotherapy. 

Associate Professor Smith recalled that while the centre sometimes receives odd requests, this one stood out. He explained that sequencing the DNA allows researchers to map the tumour and pinpoint the mutations driving the cancer, giving them a clearer picture of what might be causing the disease, The Australian reports.

Shortly afterwards, Conyngham, an AI expert and electrical and computing engineer who co-founded Core Intelligence Technologies and served as a director for the Data Science and AI Association of Australia, immediately set to work once UNSW completed the $3,000 genomic sequencing for Rosie.

Turning genomic data into potential cancer therapy

The process compared healthy DNA from Rosie’s blood with DNA from her tumour to identify the mutations driving the cancer. Conyngham likened it to examining a brand-new car engine alongside one with 186,000 miles on it – you can see exactly where the damage has occurred. Once the mutations were mapped, he ran the data through several analysis pipelines and used algorithms to identify potential drugs that could target the disease.

Conyngham had identified an immunotherapy drug from a pharmaceutical company, but the manufacturer refused to provide it for compassionate use, leaving him momentarily discouraged. During a conversation with Associate Professor Smith, the topic of mRNA vaccines came up, and Conyngham explored whether the technology could be applied to help Rosie.

The genomics team then reached out to Pall Thordarson, director of the UNSW RNA Institute. The Icelandic nanomedicine expert used Conyngham’s data – condensed into a half-page formula – to develop a custom mRNA vaccine for Rosie.

Thordarson noted that this was the first time a personalized cancer vaccine had been designed for a dog and emphasized that Rosie’s case demonstrates how personalized medicine can be highly effective and implemented quickly using mRNA technology, with potential applications for human patients.