Comment by munchbunny

Programming is much, much easier to learn to a professional level than biochemistry, and open source is much, much cheaper and easier to enter and navigate than medical academia/pharma industry, and adding a software feature is (generally) much easier than discovering or developing a drug.

I think it’s a valid question but expectations have to be tempered by the question of how many people have the means to follow through. Not many are in a position to go (back) to school for a doctorate just to start working on the problem 5-10 years later.