Is mRNA History's Biggest Pump-and-Dump Get-Rich Quick Scheme?

An Opinion Piece by Gary Moller

I have often wondered whether what we are witnessing today is not simply the development of a new biotechnology, but the emergence of one of the largest investment and political manias in modern history.

The share market has a well-known phenomenon called the "pump and dump". Enthusiasm for a company, technology, or investment opportunity is aggressively promoted. Investors pile in. Governments support it. The media celebrates it. Vast sums of money flow into the sector. Share prices soar, fortunes are made, and those who got in early reap enormous rewards.

Then, when reality finally catches up with expectations, the promoters have often moved on, leaving others to carry the losses.

I stress that what follows is my opinion. I am not alleging criminal behaviour by any individual, company, or institution. However, history teaches us that whenever enormous amounts of money, political influence, and public enthusiasm converge around a new technology, caution is warranted.

Innovation is welcome. Exploitation is not.

My problem is not simply about the mRNA technology itself. My concern is about the vast financial and political ecosystem that has developed around it. Over a remarkably short period of time, governments have committed billions of dollars to mRNA research, manufacturing facilities, and product development. Universities have established specialised programmes. Venture capital has flooded into biotechnology start-ups. Pharmaceutical companies have invested heavily in production plants and infrastructure. Entire industries are being built around the promise that mRNA technology will transform human medicine, animal health, aquaculture, agriculture, food production, and even plant protection.

We must not forget that during COVID, trillions of dollars changed hands. It was history's biggest transfer of wealth from the poor and middle classes to a few very rich people and companies.

The claims for mRNA have been extraordinary. We are told that mRNA technology represents the future of vaccines, cancer therapies, infectious disease management, personalised medicine, livestock production, crop protection, and countless other applications. The possibilities are presented as almost limitless. Yet several uncomfortable questions remain:

• What if many of these promises fail to materialise?

• What if some applications prove ineffective?

• What if some are found to cause unintended harm?

• What if the benefits fail to justify the costs?

• What if, after decades of investment, the technology falls well short of the revolutionary claims made on its behalf?

From a scientific perspective, these questions are important to be answered. From the perspective of those who profit during the investment phase, they may matter far less:

• The money is often made long before the final verdict arrives.

• The money is made when governments announce funding packages.

• The money is made when factories are built.

• The money is made when research grants are awarded.

• The money is made when investors rush to buy shares.

• The money is made when a narrative of inevitable success takes hold.

Whether the end products ultimately succeed or fail may be largely irrelevant to those who have already secured their profits and moved on. History provides many examples. Railway booms, mining schemes, canal projects, dot-com companies, cryptocurrency ventures, green-energy bubbles, and countless other investment manias all followed remarkably similar patterns. In New Zealand, the abandoned copper mine high above Nelson remains a reminder that grand promises and speculative enthusiasm are not new phenomena.

The pattern is often familiar. A genuine innovation emerges. Excitement builds. Capital floods in. Claims have become increasingly ambitious. Critical thinking becomes inconvenient. Sceptics are dismissed. Questions become unwelcome. Then, eventually, reality arrives. I sometimes wonder whether we are watching a similar process unfold around mRNA technology. Only time will tell.

We do not want our country to become a testing ground for every fashionable technology that captures the imagination of investors, politicians, and multinational corporations.

From a FreeRangers perspective, this is exactly why caution is essential.

We are not opposed to innovation. We are not opposed to science. We are not opposed to biotechnology. Many scientific advances have improved and extended human life, and where genuine benefits are demonstrated, they should be welcomed. However, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Where coercion is involved, as many believe occurred during the COVID response, even higher standards of scrutiny should apply. The greater the pressure placed upon populations, the greater the obligation to openly examine both the benefits and the harms.

That is why I continue to ask simple questions:

• Where are the conferences?

• Where are the open scientific debates?

• Where are the forums where all evidence, favourable and unfavourable alike, can be openly examined and challenged?

As FreeRangers, we begin with a different set of priorities. We value healthy soils, healthy plants, healthy animals, healthy families, and healthy communities.

• We value traditional farming systems that have sustained humanity for generations.

• We value nutrient-dense food.

• We value the principle that food is medicine.

• We value the principle that the body, when properly nourished and supported, possesses remarkable powers of healing and adaptation.

Drugs, vaccines, biotechnology, and advanced medical interventions all have their place. However, they should remain tools, not ideologies. They should earn trust through transparency, independent scrutiny, long-term evidence, and demonstrated benefit. Trust should never be demanded. It should be earned.

As Freerangers, our vision is simple. We want New Zealand to be the best place in the world to live and to raise a family. We do not want our country to become a testing ground for every fashionable technology that captures the imagination of investors, politicians, and multinational corporations. Nor do we want New Zealanders exposed to unnecessary risks simply because vast sums of money are at stake.

• Innovation is welcome.

• Exploitation is not.

• Progress is welcome.

• Blind faith is not.

Whether mRNA technology ultimately proves to be one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in history or one of the largest investment bubbles ever created remains to be seen. Time has a habit of exposing reality. It always does.

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Medical Disclaimer

This article expresses personal opinions and commentary and is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical, financial, or investment advice. Readers should seek advice from appropriately qualified health professionals and financial advisers before making decisions relating to medical treatments, investments, or health interventions. Any discussion of medical technologies, including mRNA technologies, should not be interpreted as a statement of proven fact unless supported by independent scientific evidence.