October 7, 2025

An antibiotic discovered on Easter Island in 1964 turned into a billion-dollar success known as rapamycin. But did you know the incredible history of this life-saving drug is missing the crucial story of the Indigenous Rapa Nui people and the politics involved? Rapamycin, named after Easter Island’s Indigenous name Rapa Nui, first helped stop organ rejection in transplants and improve heart stents. Now, it fights cancer and researchers are testing it for diabetes, brain diseases, and even aging! Over 59,000 scientific papers talk about rapamycin, proving it's a superstar in medicine. This drug works by blocking a key cell protein called TOR. Think of TOR as the master switch controlling cell growth, how cells use energy, and immune responses. When TOR goes wrong, diseases like cancer and aging problems emerge. But how was rapamycin found? Many know that scientists at Ayerst Research Labs purified it from a soil sample containing a special bacterium collected in the 1970s. What many don’t know is that this soil came from a 1964 Canadian-led mission called Medical Expedition to Easter Island (METEI). This team gathered samples while studying local people and nature. Led by surgeon Stanley Skoryna and bacteriologist Georges Nogrady, METEI aimed to see how isolated islanders adapted to new contact with the world, as a new airport was planned. They studied nearly every one of the 1,000 islanders and collected over 200 soil samples. But here’s the twist: METEI's story is also about scientific colonialism. The researchers assumed the islanders were isolated and genetically identical, ignoring their rich mixed heritage and history. They used gifts and a priest’s help to get people involved, turning the islanders into research subjects with little say – a clear power imbalance. Nogrady’s soil sample carried the bacteria that led to rapamycin, but neither he nor METEI got credit in the important publications. Surendra Sehgal at Ayerst kept the research alive, even hiding a bacteria culture at home during company changes. Rapamycin made billions, but the Rapa Nui people saw no benefits. This raises tough questions: Should Indigenous communities get credit and profits? Global agreements today say yes, but these didn’t exist back then. Some argue rapamycin bacteria were found elsewhere and islanders didn’t use it, so no theft happened. Yet, their land and people were essential to the discovery. Pharma companies have started recognizing indigenous contributions, but not yet for the Rapa Nui. This story is a mix of great science and ethical challenges. It shows how important it is to honor the people behind big medical breakthroughs. TED POWERS, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, reminds us that “issues of biomedical consent, scientific colonialism and overlooked contributions highlight the need for a more critical examination and awareness of the legacy of breakthrough scientific discoveries.”

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Tags: Rapamycin, Easter island, Rapa nui, Biomedical research, Indigenous rights, Pharmaceutical industry,