Kary Mullis - Part One - Was Kary Mullis On The Verge Of Another Nobel?

And Would He Have Wiped Out DARPA’s Plan To Swab Everyone In America For Track and Trace?

In February 2009, Kary Mullis, Nobel Prize Winner for developing PCR, came up with a solution that stopped Anthrax in its tracks for the US Air Force.

https://www.ted.com/talks/kary_mullis_a_next_gen_cure_for_killer_infections/transcript

Kary Mullis is also famous for being an iconoclast in the medical community around using his PCR invention to prove HIV virus caused AIDS.

Detailed Summary of this article -

In February 2009, Nobel laureate Kary Mullis applied his expertise in PCR to develop an innovative anthrax countermeasure for the U.S. Air Force at Brooks Air Force Base (AFB). Instead of waiting days for the immune system to generate new antibodies to novel anthrax strains, Mullis proposed “linking” the pathogen to the well-known Alpha-Gal epitope, thereby hijacking pre-existing Alpha-Gal antibodies for immediate neutralization. In Brooks AFB animal trials, all mice treated with this Alpha-Gal–linker conjugate survived lethal anthrax exposure, demonstrating proof of concept for an accelerated immune response.

To commercialize the approach, Mullis founded AltMune, marketing the technology to the Department of Defense. He collaborated with Klaus Schafer, head of DTRA’s Bioagents Program, but Schafer would later found AltImmune, a strikingly similarly named company—raising conflict-of-interest concerns as Schafer transitioned from customer to competitor. Despite the controversy, Schafer’s work earned him accolades within the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and a place in DARPA’s historical “Hall of Fame.”

The article situates these events within a broader historical and personal narrative: President John F. Kennedy’s final official act was dedicating Brooks Aeronautical Medical Center in November 1963, escorted by General George Schaeffer. Mullis’s own untimely death shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic is compared to Jack Parsons’s fatal 1952 explosion at Caltech, presaging the U.S. missile-space race. This parallel extends via DARPA figure Dan Wattendorf—whose grandfather Frank Wattendorf partnered with Parsons under aerospace pioneer Theodore von Kármán—highlighting an enduring nexus between rocketry, space medicine, and biological threat research.

Finally, the author reflects on on-site research at Caltech, sensing espionage undertones at the dawn of America’s space program, and notes that the Ralph Parsons Construction Company (no relation to Jack Parsons) later built numerous Minuteman and Polaris missile sites around Pasadena—adding an almost uncanny industrial echo to Parsons’s legacy.

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Profiles

People

Kary Mullis
Nobel Prize–winning biochemist celebrated for inventing the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. In 2009, he leveraged his deep knowledge of molecular biology to design an Alpha-Gal–based “linker” strategy that neutralized anthrax in preclinical mouse trials at Brooks AFB. He subsequently founded AltMune to advance this rapid-response immunotherapy for defense and public health applications.

Klaus Schafer
Head of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Bioagents Program in the late 2000s. Initially a government customer of Mullis’s technology, he later established AltImmune, creating a potential conflict by marketing a name-similar platform. Schafer’s contributions have been recognized within DTRA and celebrated by DARPA’s institutional history.

John F. Kennedy
35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. His final official act was dedicating the Brooks Aeronautical Medical Center near San Antonio, underscoring his interest in aerospace medicine. This event symbolizes the historical link between U.S. leadership and early military biomedical facilities.

General George Schaeffer
Senior U.S. Air Force officer who accompanied President Kennedy to dedicate Brooks Aeronautical Medical Center in November 1963. His role highlights the Air Force’s involvement in both aeronautics and medical research. Schaeffer’s presence at the dedication ties the facility’s military and biomedical missions to national leadership.

Bill Gates
Co-founder of Microsoft and prominent philanthropist focused on global health. He has repeatedly honored Klaus Schafer, including a mention in his book Business at the Speed of Thought as an innovation leader. Gates’s acknowledgement lends broader visibility and credibility to DTRA’s bioagents research.

Jack Parsons
Pioneering rocket scientist at Caltech in the 1930s and ’40s, co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He died in a mysterious laboratory explosion in 1952, days before America’s formal entry into the missile era. Parsons’s work under Theodore von Kármán laid foundational advances for U.S. space and rocket programs.

Dan Wattendorf
DARPA program manager noted for overseeing coronavirus and DOMANE (virus-like particle) initiatives. His grandfather, Frank Wattendorf, collaborated with Jack Parsons at Caltech, linking him by lineage to early rocket research. Dan’s career exemplifies the continuing convergence of biotechnology and aerospace in defense R&D.

Frank Wattendorf
Caltech engineer and close associate of Theodore von Kármán, contributing to early U.S. aeronautics and rocketry research. He worked alongside Jack Parsons on pioneering solid-fuel rocket experiments. His legacy extends through his grandson’s leadership in modern DARPA bioagent projects.

Theodore von Kármán
Legendary aerospace engineer who founded Caltech’s Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (GALCIT) in the 1930s. He mentored and collaborated with early rocket pioneers like Parsons and Wattendorf, shaping America’s space-flight infrastructure. Von Kármán’s emphasis on high-technology research seeded both aeronautical and biomedical defense programs.

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Organizations

U.S. Air Force (USAF)
Branch of the U.S. Armed Forces responsible for aerial and space warfare operations. Operating Brooks AFB, the USAF supported Mullis’s anthrax trials and oversaw the Brooks Aeronautical Medical Center dedication by President Kennedy. Its partnership with civilian scientists exemplifies military-academic collaboration in defense research.

Brooks Aeronautical Medical Center
Established at Brooks AFB near San Antonio, Texas, originally to study high-altitude physiology and aerospace medicine. Dedicated by President Kennedy in November 1963, it became a hub for both aeromedical and biological threat research. The center hosted the 2009 anthrax countermeasure trials that validated Mullis’s Alpha-Gal linker approach.

AltMune
Biotech company founded by Kary Mullis to commercialize his Alpha-Gal–linker anthrax neutralization technology. It pitched rapid-response vaccines leveraging existing antibody repertoires, targeting government and military clients. AltMune represents a novel convergence of immunology and PCR-era innovations for biodefense.

Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)
DoD agency tasked with countering weapons of mass destruction, including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. DTRA’s Bioagents Program funded and guided Mullis’s anthrax trials, reflecting its mission to accelerate threat mitigation. The agency also counts Klaus Schafer among its notable program leaders.

DTRA’s Bioagents Program
Specialized division within DTRA focused on biological threats, ranging from pathogens to countermeasure development. Under Klaus Schafer’s leadership, it evaluated cutting-edge strategies such as the Alpha-Gal linker method. The program’s success at Brooks AFB illustrates DTRA’s role in translating lab discoveries into defense applications.

AltImmune
Biotech firm founded by Klaus Schafer after his tenure at DTRA, offering immune-modulating platforms with a name closely echoing AltMune. Its emergence blurred lines between governmental research and private enterprise, stirring debate over commercial conflicts of interest. AltImmune’s trajectory underscores the complex ethics of dual-use biotech ventures.

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)
U.S. Department of Defense branch that sponsors high-risk, high-reward R&D across technology domains. Since its 1958 inception, DARPA has fostered both rocket-space programs and bioagent countermeasure projects. The agency’s historical “Hall of Fame” honors figures like Klaus Schafer for transformative contributions.

Caltech (California Institute of Technology)
Leading research university in Pasadena, California, renowned for engineering and physical sciences. Home to GALCIT and early rocket pioneers Jack Parsons and Frank Wattendorf, Caltech catalyzed America’s space-flight and aeronautical programs. The author’s firsthand visit to Caltech evoked a sense of Cold War–era espionage and innovation.

Ralph Parsons Construction Company
Engineering and construction firm established in the 20th century, distinct from Jack Parsons. It built numerous Minuteman and Polaris missile sites around Pasadena after Parsons’s death, capitalizing on Cold War missile programs. Its role ties local industry to national defense infrastructure and echoes Caltech’s rocketry legacy.

All The Mullis Mice Survived Deadly Anthrax Dosing At Brooks AFB In 2009 Testing

Rather than wait for the body to generate new antibodies for a new strain of Anthrax, why not just link the new Anthrax to something the bodies already knows how to eat immediately?

By using a “linker” which already knows how to attach to Alpha-Gal, the linker then only needs to connect to a known part of the new, novel invader.

The “linker” then just links to the Alpha-Gal antibodies already in the bloodstream.

We will explore this potential groundbreaking, new technology in a future post here. Kary Mullis had even formed a company, AltMune, to market the technology to the Department of Defense.

Kary Mullis worked closely with the head of DTRA’s bioagents program, Klaus Schafer.

Strangely, Klaus Schafer has a company very closely named to Kary Mullis’ company, Schafer’s AltImmune vs Mullis’ AltMune.

The move from Klaus Schafer being the customer at the US Air Force for Kary Mullis, to being the producer of the Altimmune technology is apparent conflict of interest. but that hasn’t stopped close Schrader from rocketing to the top of the DARPA annals along with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency all-time Hall of Fame.

it is interesting to point out that President John F Kennedy’s last official act was to dedicate the Brooks Aeronautical Medical center before his death.

A General George Schaeffer was the one who took Kennedy took to the Brooks Medical Center in November 1963. Klaus Schafer has been honored many times by Bill Gates since including being mentioned in Bill Gates book, “Business At The Speed Of Thought”, as a thought leader.

Kary Mullis’ untimely death, right before the outbreak of coronavirus, for me, was eerily similar to the explosion death of Jack Parsons at Caltech in the early 1950s before the space race in missile technology boom.

Even more unbelievably, the grandfather of Dan Wattendorf of DARPA, coronavirus, and DOMANE fame, worked with Jack Parsons, at Caltech, Frank Wattendorf.

Frank Wattendorf was the right hand man of the father of the US aviation, high technology program and space program after World War II, Theodore Von Karman.

In our researchers travels, we have noticed this close association of space and rocketry with bioagents and space medicine. The frequent pairing of these two DARPA development fields is uncanny from the very first days of DARPA in 1957.

I visited the Caltech campus for three days to do research on this project, and I must admit I did have the feeling that espionage and foul play came together here at the beginning of the US space race with the Soviet union.

The fact that a Ralph Parsons construction company sprouted up in Pasadena to do many of the Minuteman and Polaris missile sites after the death of Jack Parsons to take advantage of the missile programs he created, was an eerie overtone to my visit to Pasadena.