Jonas Salk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Jonas Salk, M.D. (October 28, 1914 - June 23, 1995) is the discoverer/inventor of the eponymous Salk vaccine while a researcher in Pittsburgh (see polio vaccine). Salk was born in New York City. He spent his career as a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Later in his career, Salk devoted much of his energy to developing an AIDS vaccine.
His vaccine was one of the first successful attempts at immunization against a virus, specifically the Poliomyelitis virus. The vaccine provides the recipient with immunity against Polio, and was seminal in the near eradication of a once widely-feared disease. Salk used a "killed" virus technique which required the patient to be injected with the vaccine. The patient would develop immunity to the live disease due to the body's earlier reaction to the killed virus. Dr. Salk's vaccine rocked the world in 1954 when he first used it for the general public at Pittsburgh's Arsenal Elementary School. By contrast, Albert Sabin developed a "live" vaccine which was released in 1961, and which could be taken orally.
Unlike some scientists who sought wealth or fame accompanying their innovations, Salk stated "Who owns my polio vaccine? The people! Could you patent the sun?".
The Salk Institute in La Jolla, California was founded by Jonas Salk along with Jacob Bronowski and Francis Crick.
See also
Jonas Salk, M.D. was born in New York City on October 28, 1914. He is famous for discovering the vaccine for the deadly Poliomyelitis, which is the virus that causes Polio. His mother was an uneducated Russian immigrant homemaker and his father was a lady’s clothing designer. He was the oldest of 3 boys, 5 years older than one and 12 years older than the other. Though famous for his achievements related to Polio, Salk’s first endeavor for a vaccine was while he was at the University of Michigan. Salk began studies on the influenza virus. He helped microbiologist Thomas Francis, Jr. and in 1938, the pair found one that was suitable for use in WW2. In 1947 he received a position at the University of Pittsburgh as head of the Virus Research lab. Though he continued his research on improving the influenza vaccine, he set his sights towards the Poliovirus. Even after he found a vaccine, his interests were set more towards AIDS research. Salk attended NYU Medical School. While he was there he heard 2 lectures that would render his life changed forever. Salk reflected on the lectures in 1990. “In the first lecture, we were told that it was possible to immunize against diphtheria and tetanus by the use of a chemically treated toxin [to kill it]…. In the very next lecture, we were told that in order to immunize against a virus disease it was necessary to go through the experience of infection. It was not possible to kill the virus…. The light went on at that point. I said that those two statements can’t possibly both be true. One has to be false.” Polio’s outbreak in the 1916 left 6000 dead and 27000 paralyzed. In 1955 vaccinations were introduced and 1979 reported only 10 cases. The Polio virus initially attacks the nervous system and within a few hours of infection, paralysis can occur. The death rate of the disease is about 5-10%. Death usually occurs because of the breathing muscles become paralyzed. President Franklin Roosevelt had Polio as a child and was one of the statistical .5% who developed irreversible paralysis. Polio was sometimes hard to diagnose because of its flu-like symptoms, which include stiff neck, fever, and headache. An ironic point about Salk is that he was not interested in science as a child. He says in an interview with the Academy of Achievement “As a child I was not interested in science. I was merely interested in things human, the human side of nature, if you like, and I continue to be interested in that. That's what motivates me. And in a way, it's the human dimension that has intrigued me. “His initial interest was to become a lawyer and he says that because of his mothers persuasion (which included her telling him he wouldn’t be good at it), he changed from a pre-law student to a pre-med student. During his first year in medical school, he was offered the chance to do research and teach biochemistry. He recalls this experience in the previously mentioned interview at one point at the end of my first year of medical school; I received an opportunity to spend a year in research and teaching in biochemistry, which I did. And at the end of that year, I was told I could, if I wished, switch and get a Ph.D. in biochemistry but my preference was to stay with medicine. And I believe that this is all linked to my original ambition, or desire, which was to be of some help to humankind, so to speak, in a larger sense than just on a one-to-one basis. “ Salk’s discovery couldn’t have come at a better time. In 1952, he tested his vaccine on volunteering parties, including himself, his wife, and his sons. The vaccine seemed to be ok. Meanwhile, the worst year of the epidemic was underway. 57,628 cases were recorded during this year. America held its breath, hoping that relief was near. Salk’s mentor and friend, Thomas Francis Jr., encouraged him to direct a widespread immunization of schoolchildren. The March of Dimes, an organization originally founded to raise money for Polio, named for the fact that Franklin Roosevelt, a veteran of Polio is on the dime, helped to sponsor Salk in boosting the popularity of the vaccine and donated money to help in providing free vaccinations to children all over the country. Many doctors found conflict in Salk’s research, claiming that he had not, as he claimed, discovered a cure for anything; he had just applied common knowledge and synthesized it to create something for the use of the public. Many rebutted this argument with the point that this is what modern medicine is all about.