NOTE: this is being cross-posted from my Substack, "More is Different"

Vaccines can be distributed as a food. That's the radical implication of the work of Chris Buck, a scientist at the National Cancer Institute. This December, Chris consumed a beer he brewed in his home kitchen using genetically modified yeast. A few weeks later, a blood test showed a significant concentration of antibodies against a strain of BK polyomavirus (BKV), where previously he had none. His discovery flies in the face of much conventional thinking about oral vaccines.

Now, Buck thinks he can create yeast-based vaccines for a variety of viral diseases. If his vision pans out, you might be drinking a beer or eating yeast chips to protect yourself during the next outbreak. Moreover, you may be doing so just weeks after the outbreak starts, rather than waiting months or years for drug-approval processes to play out. The regulations around food-grade genetically modified yeast are much easier to navigate than the regulations around vaccines and other drug products.