Astatine
SEDIMENTARY BLUES No.9/9
Ethan Chan · Writing, Production, Mixing
Manisha Saigal · Vocals
Matt Foster · Mastering
There’s a hunt with a price, for specimen 85
If it takes half a month, if it takes me half my life
Medicine for innocents, need I say another word, justify
Make a wish, save a life, with specimen 85
There’s a hunt with a price, for specimen 85
If it takes half a month, if it takes me half my life
Medicine for innocents, need I say another word, justify
Make a wish, save a life, with specimen 85
If it takes half a month, if it takes me half my life
Medicine for innocents, need I say another word, justify
Make a wish, save a life, with specimen 85
There’s a hunt with a price, for specimen 85
If it takes half a month, if it takes me half my life
Medicine for innocents, need I say another word, justify
Make a wish, save a life, with specimen 85
Astatine, oh astatine
You’re the only one they haven’t seen
Dim your soul and dull your sheen
They don’t see you as a being
Astatine, oh astatine
They don’t know the world we’ve seen
Doesn’t matter, dull your sheen
(Doesn’t matter, dull your sheen)
Knowledge is your enemy
There’s a hunt with a price, for specimen 85
If it takes half a month, if it takes me half my life
You’re the only one they haven’t seen
Dim your soul and dull your sheen
They don’t see you as a being
Astatine, oh astatine
They don’t know the world we’ve seen
Doesn’t matter, dull your sheen
(Doesn’t matter, dull your sheen)
Knowledge is your enemy
There’s a hunt with a price, for specimen 85
If it takes half a month, if it takes me half my life
Medicine for innocents, need I say another word, justify
Make a wish, save a life, with specimen 85
There’s a hunt with a price, for specimen 85
If it takes half a month, if it takes me half my life
Medicine for innocents, need I say another word, justify
Make a wish, save a life, with specimen 85
Medicine for innocents, need I say another word, justify
Make a wish, save a life, with specimen 85
Make a wish, save a life, with specimen 85
There’s a hunt with a price, for specimen 85
If it takes half a month, if it takes me half my life
Medicine for innocents, need I say another word, justify
Make a wish, save a life, with specimen 85
Medicine for innocents, need I say another word, justify
Make a wish, save a life, with specimen 85
[Introduction]
Fisher: Back on the human study with astatine with Hamilton, do you recall many of the details of the patient aspects of this work?
Fisher: Back on the human study with astatine with Hamilton, do you recall many of the details of the patient aspects of this work?
Durbin: None.
Fisher: This took place at UC San Francisco.
Durbin: I don’t know any of the details about the patients, except their names, their hospital numbers, their histopathology numbers, and the diagnoses of disease, [which are on file].
Fisher: Was that information retained by you?
Durbin: Yes.
Caputo: Were there consent forms?
Durbin: No, not in my files. There might well be in the files in the hospital, but I don’t have that.
Fisher: One of the questions with each of these identified experiments, involving the administration of radioactive materials to humans, is [whether] there [was] informed consent. Astatine was an alpha emitter. It was administered presumably as a sodium astatine complex?
Durbin: Probably sodium astatine.
Fisher: Into the bloodstream?
Durbin: Yes.
Fisher: With uptake in the thyroid and perhaps substantial nonthyroid distribution in these patients.
Durbin: Before it either decayed or was excreted.
Fisher: It has a seven-hour half-life, so it’s not going to stay around for very long.
Durbin: No, and the excretion is very efficient.
Fisher: Very efficient. Was there any interest or follow-up in these patients?
Durbin: Not to my knowledge.
Fisher: Do you know of any other humans who have been administered sodium astatine?
Durbin: No.
Fisher: In all of your experiments?
Durbin: Certainly not here.
Fisher: Was there just one study done of this type?
Durbin: Yes.
Fisher: Have you thought about it much since then?
Durbin: No. Astatine has not been one of my lifelong interests. It’s miserable to make and hell to work with.