‘Oppenheimer’ a reminder that we’re still unprepared for nuclear warfare

As thousands of moviegoers perch on the edge of their seats this weekend, eyes glued to mega-screens displaying Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster film, Oppenheimer, so too are global leaders watching in suspense as Russian nuclear threats continue to escalate.

The specter of nuclear disaster was a major topic of conversation at the NATO summit in Lithuania earlier this month, in the wake of new aggression by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Biden administration has deemed Putin’s nuclear threats to be credible.

But the harsh reality of our current moment is that, 80 years since the start of Robert Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project, the global community remains unprepared for a worst-case nuclear scenario.

It’s not just the politicians, generals and diplomats who need to remain vigilant. Those of us on the cutting edge of medicine and biotechnology must play a central role in this effort, and we must make progress now. Today’s clinical trials may yield tomorrow’s breakthrough treatments, putting us in better position if the conflict in Eastern Europe, or future hostilities, ultimately escalate to nuclear warfare.

The catastrophic nature of a nuclear disaster stems not only from the initial blast but also from the fallout. While America’s atomic bombs of World War II are estimated to have killed more than 100,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki upon impact, the ensuing radiation poisoning caused the deaths of tens of thousands more.

Decades later, nuclear weapons have grown more powerful, but advances in medical treatments for radiation poisoning have not kept pace.

Acute radiation syndrome (ARS), or radiation poisoning, is a life-threatening condition caused by significant exposure to ionizing radiation in a short period of time, namely in the wake of a nuclear strike or accident. Radiation causes severe damage to the human body, including our stomach, intestines, blood vessels and the bone marrow that produces blood cells. 

Currently, our methods of mitigating ARS are largely intended to treat and reduce infections and injuries that result from the radiation, such as severe burns. Comprehensive treatments primarily entail bone marrow transplants — an option that is costly, impossible to scale, and virtually useless in the event of a wide-scale nuclear accident or attack.

Luckily, there are governments and medical pioneers focused on finding modern solutions. My own biotechnology company recently received a grant from the U.S. government to study the efficacy of a new treatment we are developing for hematopoietic ARS.

If successfully validated, our cell-based treatment might solve some of these longstanding medical challenges. It would avoid the need for blood transfusions, saving money and resources. And it could be administered proactively, with combined doses before and after a nuclear event showing 95 percent inoculation success rates in preliminary studies.

Regardless of where the innovation comes from, Congress now has the opportunity to bring public and private innovators together to solve a global need. It’s an opportunity for bipartisan U.S. consensus centered on science, not politics, and it’s exactly the type of preparation needed at this perilous moment.

Yaky Yanay is president and CEO of Pluri Inc., a leading cell technology company based in Haifa, Israel.