Rapamycin and Easter Island

Peter Attia tells a fascinating story about soil found at Easter Island and how it led to the discovery of Rapamycin in his new book Outlive.

Rapamycin is a powerful immunosuppressant drug that is used to prevent organ transplant rejection and treat certain types of cancer. The story of its discovery begins on Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, a remote island located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean.

In the late 1960s, a group of researchers from Canada’s Ayerst Laboratories traveled to Easter Island to study the local flora and fauna. Among them was a young researcher named Suren Sehgal, who was tasked with collecting soil samples from the island.

When Sehgal returned to the laboratory and analyzed the soil samples, he discovered a new species of bacteria that produced a compound with potent immunosuppressive properties. The compound was named rapamycin, after the island’s Polynesian name, Rapa Nui.

Sehgal and his team were studying rapamycin’s potential as an anti-fungal agent when their lab was shut down due to funding issues. Sehgal was forced to freeze the bacterial sample in his lab freezer, and he eventually left the project to pursue other research.

Years later, in the 1990s, another researcher named Michael Hall discovered that rapamycin had powerful immunosuppressive properties. This led to the development of rapamycin-based drugs that are now used to prevent rejection in organ transplant patients.

However, rapamycin’s potential as a drug was not immediately recognized. For years, it was primarily used as a research tool to study the immune system and cell growth.

Later, researchers discovered that rapamycin could inhibit the growth of cancer cells by blocking a protein called mTOR, which plays a key role in cell growth and proliferation. This led to the development of rapamycin analogs, such as everolimus and temsirolimus, which are now used to treat several types of cancer.

In the early 2000s, Sehgal’s frozen sample of the rapamycin-producing bacteria was rediscovered by a researcher named George Church. Church was able to revive the bacteria and study its genetics, leading to a better understanding of how rapamycin is produced.

Rapamycin has also shown promise in the treatment of other diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and autoimmune disorders. Its discovery on Easter Island remains a fascinating example of the potential of natural products in drug discovery, and the importance of exploring diverse environments for new sources of medicines.

So, while the story of rapamycin and Easter Island involves the discovery of a valuable compound and its potential uses, it also includes the shutdown of a lab and the fortuitous preservation of a bacterial sample in a freezer.