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THE GILGAMESH PROJECT GILGAMESH THE PROJECT With multiple awards to his name for cancer research, this childhood prodigy was silenced when his forbidden science began closing in on the secret of eternal life. he ability to deal effectively with diseases such as cancer and the consequences of the ageing process remains one of the last major challenges for biomedical sci- ence. In order to meet this challenge, it is pivotal that we understand the under- lying mechanisms for the cell growth cycle, i.e. why cells grow and divide, why they undergo a process known as differentiation (why and how identical embryonic cells become mature liver, skin, brain cells, etc.) and why, ultimately, cells lapse into senes- cence and die—causing the metabolic decline and death of the organism. Problems such as these have obsessed me since childhood and have fired a passionate interest in chemistry and biology long before I enrolled in my first college chemistry course. Considering the extreme human, social and economic costs of diseases such as cancer, heart disease and illnesses associated with advancing age, I could be forgiven for thinking during my high school years that a career devoted to solving these problems was the noblest pursuit possible. If someone had told me that vested interests did not want solutions to these most pressing of medical problems, I would have considered them a delusional conspiracy nut. However, my experiences have me permanently disabused of this notion. In this article, I wish to relate the incredible odyssey that has been my life and some details of the medical research that I have undertaken. I believe that this research, if taken to its logical conclusion, stands a good chance of yielding non-toxic treatments for various forms of cancer and also for prolonging the human life span—possibly indefinitely. Instead of being lauded for these achievements, I have had my education and career in the medical sciences derailed and my life essentially ruined. There are many lessons to be learned from my experiences that would be worthy of a Hollywood thriller. The first is just how precariously close we stand to bringing the foun- tain of youth out of the realm of mythology and into the laboratory and ultimately, the clinic—the clues to this endeavour being provided by some of the lowliest (and annoying) organisms on earth. The second lesson is just how committed the medical (and possibly political) establishments are to preventing this from happening and lastly, how deeply the tentacles of vested interests (both personal and institutional) penetrate the hearts and minds of many doctors, administrators and medical educators and function to beat down any type of non-conformist creativity which challenges the status quo. THE EARLY YEARS I live in the Midwestern United States where I also grew up and received my education. I currently possess a Bachelor of Science, majoring in biology, and hold a master's degree in political science/international trade. While my classmates in high school were attend- ing ball games and doing what other high schoolers do, I was performing synthetic organ- ic chemistry in a makeshift lab in my home. Developing novel non-toxic agricultural chemicals for the control of pests was my initial preoccupation. Later I became interested in creating non-toxic modalities for the treatment of cancer. These interests were shaped by an unconventional junior high school biology teacher who encouraged in vivo experi- mentation (apologies to anti-vivisectionist readers) and pressed students to do independent research to solve medical problems. It was during my high school years that I entered and won virtually every science fair with the various projects that I was undertaking. During my senior year, I won first place in my state science fair and received the state medical association's certification of distinc- tion for designing novel classes of antineoplastics (anti-cancer drugs). I was published JUNE — JULY 2005 NEXUS * 25 by Andrew Sokar ©2005 Email: slowsubversion@yahoo.com www.nexusmagazine.com