Australian Tech Entrepreneur Uses ChatGPT and AlphaFold to Design Cancer Vaccine That Shrinks His Dog's Tumors

A Sydney-based tech entrepreneur has used artificial intelligence to design what researchers believe is the first personalized cancer vaccine ever created for a dog, dramatically shrinking his pet's tumors and opening a new frontier in AI-assisted medicine.

The Story

Paul Conyngham's rescue dog Rosie was diagnosed with advanced mast cell cancer in 2024. After chemotherapy and surgery failed to eliminate the disease, Conyngham turned to AI for help. He asked OpenAI's ChatGPT for a treatment plan, and the model suggested immunotherapy as a potential path forward.

Following ChatGPT's guidance, Conyngham had Rosie's healthy DNA and tumor DNA sequenced at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Ramaciotti Center for Genomics, spending approximately $3,000 on the process. He then used Google DeepMind's AlphaFold, a Nobel Prize-winning protein-modeling system, to identify the specific mutations driving Rosie's cancer and pinpoint potential drug targets.

From AI Blueprint to Real Vaccine

When a pharmaceutical company refused to supply a promising immunotherapy drug for compassionate use, Conyngham pivoted. Working with UNSW's RNA Institute, led by director Pall Thordarson, his team manufactured a custom mRNA vaccine based on the AI-generated formula.

"I went to ChatGPT and came up with a plan," Conyngham said, describing the unconventional approach that combined consumer AI tools with cutting-edge genomics.

Remarkable Results

Rosie received her first injection in December 2025, followed by a booster in February 2026. Within six weeks, a tennis ball-sized tumor on her leg had shrunk by roughly 75%. Rosie regained her energy and mobility, returning to chasing rabbits at the dog park.

However, the treatment is not a complete cure. One of Rosie's tumors did not respond to the vaccine, and the team is already sequencing it to design a second, targeted vaccine.

Why This Matters

This case represents a remarkable convergence of consumer AI tools and advanced biomedical research. A person with no formal biology degree was able to leverage freely available AI systems to contribute meaningfully to a complex medical challenge.

The research team at UNSW now aims to translate Rosie's treatment success toward human cancer immunotherapy applications. If the approach can be replicated and scaled, it could fundamentally change how personalized cancer treatments are developed.

What Experts Are Saying

Medical researchers have expressed both excitement and caution. While the tumor shrinkage is significant, a single case study in a dog does not constitute proof of efficacy for broader applications. The scientific community is closely watching how the second vaccine performs and whether the methodology can be reproduced in controlled trials.

Source: Fortune