The researcher who spoke too soon
Lizeka Mda
Olga Visser is so surprisingly ordinary she easily fits the stereotype of home-maker. But that would be far from the truth. For one thing, this mother of six does not cook, and her husband Zigi swears she is a hopeless slob.
Which is all very well as her interests lie elsewhere. In January this 39-year-old perfusionist, a technician who controls the heart-lung machine during open-heart operations, was catapulted into the headlines. She – together with two cardio- thoracic surgeons from the University of Pretoria, Professor Dirk du Plessis and Dr Kallie Landauer – claimed to have found a formula to stop HIV in its tracks, and possibly cure Aids.
The scientific, medical and Aids establishments came down heavily on the three. They had not submitted their work for peer review, and, because no details of their compound – Virodene P058 – were available, there was no way to verify their conclusions.
The Medicines Control Council (MCC) banned the drug and halted its testing as it contained an industrial solvent, dimethylformamide, which the council said was toxic to humans. That was in February.
Three weeks ago MCC officials raided the Pretoria office and home of Olga Visser, apparently looking for evidence that she and her colleagues were still treating Aids patients with Virodene. Allegedly, a patient had become ill after being treated with the drug at Visser’s instigation, and had reported her to the Aids Law Project. Visser was adamant that they were not treating any patients.
When broached with the subject of the MCC,Visser said she really couldn’t be bothered discussing the council: “I just want to be left alone,” she told the Mail & Guardian.
Zigi Visser is, however, not burdened with such reticence.
“It’s probably a desperate attempt by the MCC, pharmaceutical companies and Aids activists who are trying to bury Virodene before the new health Bills come into effect.”
Zigi Visser frequently speaks for his wife of 15 years. She sits by, chain smokes, and interjects now and then: “But that is confidential, Zigi. You should not be talking about it.”
One gets the impression that this is the root of her problems. As a researcher she may be cautious and concentrate on inquiry, but that is being pipped all the time by the pride her husband has in her achievements, and his awareness of the commercial value of her discoveries.
Two years ago, while working as a freelance cryogenics researcher for Du Plessis, Olga Visser claimed to have developed a cryoprotectant formula known as cryopreservation, that would enable human hearts to be frozen without any damage.
This “discovery” made it to the British Sunday Times. The scientific television programme Beyond 2000 included Visser in its South African itinerary. President Nelson Mandela invited her to lunch.
Then European scientists inundated her with queries about her formula: where did she publish her work? They could not find anything in Cryobiology or Science.
In the United States, where cryonics – the preservation of human bodies for possible thawing in the future – is big business, these reports created a stir. Just who was this upstart? A cardio-vascular perfusionist? What did she know about cryobiology?
Brian Wowk, president of CryoCare, wrote: “This South African thing is beginning to sound like a cold-fusion-style public relations gambit to drum up research grants and venture capital from naive investors.”
Visser would not give details about her formula, and in the end it was Du Plessis who attempted to describe the experiment. But cryonicists remained sceptical.
However, the Cryonics Institute and Alcor Foundation, rivals to CryoCare, put their weight behind Visser. She sold them exclusive rights to her technology.
Alcor flew her to its headquarters in Arizona where she demonstrated her experiment. By all accounts, her demonstrations failed. The rat hearts did not resume beating.
Zigi Visser says there were a number of problems which explain why the experiments failed, not least of which was that Olga Visser had not travelled with her own formula from South Africa.
Fred Chamberlain, Alcor Foundation president, which reportedly paid $25 000 for the rights to her technology, told the M&G that this signalled an end to its association with Olga Visser.
Du Plessis believes that their cryoprotectant findings were made public too soon, just as many of Visser’s supporters in the Virodene fiasco do.
However, there has been criticism of the MCC action as well. While South Africa has been keeping a lid on Virodene, there are clinics in Africa and Europe that claim to have been using the drug and refute any charges of toxicity.
“I have read your MCC reports,” says one French doctor, “and what can I say? They sound like children! All this happened because the researcher opened her mouth too soon. She has no understanding of how this industry works. Pharmaceutical companies have a lot of money invested in Aids research. If something comes up just like that, that is cheap, it’s a problem for them.
“As physicians we are forced to work as if we were in the Middle Ages, in secrecy. I would advise your Visser to shut her mouth and stop talking so much.”
It appears Visser’s biggest handicap is that she is an outsider. Much of the response to her work has been to question her credibility. Visser says all she ever wanted to do was alleviate suffering. “Nothing has helped before,” she says.
Zigi Visser says his wife’s Aids findings interested the medical establishment until the patent came up. And the Vissers are not prepared to give the patent up.
Denying desperate people access to unproven therapies has been known to build underground manufacturers, and this is more risky.
Perhaps the MCC had this in mind on December 5 when it reversed its decision and allowed further research into Virodene. This was a few days after Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma had declared her intent to reverse the MCC’s decision as soon as the law allowed her to. She owed it to HIV/Aids sufferers, she said.
Vital Statistics
Born: July 20 1958, Mozambique Defining characteristics: Very stubborn, won’t give up on something she believes in Ambition: To develop an antidote for HIV/Aids
Favourite car: Drives a white Mercedes 200 Favourite people: Chris Barnard, Peter Sellers
Least favourite people: “People who talk too much” Likely to say: “I was the first person to …”
Not likely to say: “I made a mistake when …”