October 29, 2014 | Author Alexander Masters, speaking from the experience of seeking a novel therapy for a friend with a rare form of cancer, floats a bizarre plan for funding high-risk, rare-indication clinical trials: let the ultra-rich suffering from rare diseases fund trials that they or their loved ones can participate in. While the suggestion proves more complicated than it first appears, Masters goes to great lengths to explore the legal and ethical ramifications of matching wealthy patients with therapies struggling to get out of the preclinical stages of testing. Ultimately, after outlining the structure of an organization that could administrate this service, he introduces an unfunded Phase I trial of a zoonotic virus as a treatment for glioblastoma — offering wealthy donors the chance to buy their way into treatment. Mosaic Science