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I have worked in both semiconductor manufacturing and drug discovery industries. Reliably and profitably producing 5 nm chips is an extreme engineering challen

I have worked in both semiconductor manufacturing and drug discovery industries. Reliably and profitably producing 5 nm chips is an extreme engineering challenge, but- it is an engineering challenge. Drug discovery is a question of science and requires a fundamentally different mindset that semiconductor manufacturing. Human biology is much more complicated than manufacturing chips (and that is extremely complicated); drug discovery is about "unknown unknowns". Discovering a drug that has the intended effects without causing terrible adverse effects is something that some of the best-funded companies on the planet struggle with.

guelo 4y ago
Some of the best-funded companies on the planet also struggle to produce 5nm chips.
- davidf18 4y ago
thomastjeffery 4y ago
But this isn't about drugs. This is about editing genes to manufacture T cells. That's a lot more like engineering than drug trials.
- kelnos 4y ago
  Not in medicine, but I don't think that's true. It's very hard to understand what all the consequences are going to be when you manufacture those T cells, and you also have to figure out what to manufacture in the first place, based on experimental trial and error.
- chris_va 4y ago
  I've done some engineering and drug development... Image trying to write code where you can't actually see what you wrote, where each time you compile it costs $1000 and the binary randomly is corrupted 50% of the time. And the only way to find out is to push it to prod and wait a few months for someone to call you. And every prod setup is subtly different without any documentation. That's about 100x easier than drug development. :)
  - nitwit005 4y ago
    The nature of cutting edge stuff, regardless of the field, is that the process barely works, and costs a lot.
lost_tourist 4y ago
Drugs ultimately have to be converted from the lab to mass production. How is it any different, they all require research, iteration, and ultimately (hopefully) engineered mass production?

guelo 4y ago

Some of the best-funded companies on the planet also struggle to produce 5nm chips.

davidf18 4y ago

thomastjeffery 4y ago

But this isn't about drugs. This is about editing genes to manufacture T cells. That's a lot more like engineering than drug trials.

kelnos 4y ago
Not in medicine, but I don't think that's true. It's very hard to understand what all the consequences are going to be when you manufacture those T cells, and you also have to figure out what to manufacture in the first place, based on experimental trial and error.
chris_va 4y ago
I've done some engineering and drug development... Image trying to write code where you can't actually see what you wrote, where each time you compile it costs $1000 and the binary randomly is corrupted 50% of the time. And the only way to find out is to push it to prod and wait a few months for someone to call you. And every prod setup is subtly different without any documentation. That's about 100x easier than drug development. :)
- nitwit005 4y ago
  The nature of cutting edge stuff, regardless of the field, is that the process barely works, and costs a lot.

lost_tourist 4y ago

Drugs ultimately have to be converted from the lab to mass production. How is it any different, they all require research, iteration, and ultimately (hopefully) engineered mass production?