I suppose it’s no surprise that number-hungry bankers may not have the mind for science. The pandemic has certainly demonstrated a widespread misunderstanding of basic biology. But this lack of understanding was most apparent when I was having a chat with a banker friend in Hong Kong recently.
Inevitably, the topic of vaccines came up. Are you double vaxxed? Which jab did you take, SinoVac or BioNTech?
I know there are some people who are sceptical about BioNTech and the new mRNA technology, and my banker friend was one of them.
Apparently, he had done some internet research, and decided to lecture me on the structure of a cell, membrane protein and genes. According to him, BioNTech edits our DNA series to make people immune to the virus.
Once I stopped staring in disbelief, I tried to convince him otherwise.
But as soon as we stopped arguing, I was shocked to find that the chap had still got the BioNTech vaccine and was happy about it, despite his belief that it edits DNA. It turns out I didn’t need to persuade him to get vaccinated.
Instead, my friend had taken his faulty theory and ran with it, believing that his vaccinated body now held a superior, edited DNA. He effectively thinks that those who take the mRNA vaccine will become Superman — i.e. that he was now Superman.
I suppose I shouldn’t correct the chap. I just hope he doesn’t try to flex his ‘super’ strength any time soon.