'Thank you, Dr. Salk!' Google honors creator of polio vaccine
Jewish American scientist Jonas Salk gets his own Google Doodle to mark his 100th birthday.
Google on Tuesday honored Jewish American medical researcher Jonas Salk, who discovered the vaccine for polio, with one of its famous doodles to mark his 100th birthday.
In the image, Salk is surrounded by smiling and active children, two of whom are holding a poster reading "Thank you, Dr. Salk!"
Salk created the world's first vaccine for polio, which was introduced in 1957. Prior to that, the infectious disease was considered one of the most challenging and terrifying public health problems in the United States. It affected mainly children, and could cause paralysis and even death.
He was born in New York in 1914, to parents Daniel and Dora Salk, both of whom had little formal education. As a result, his parents apparently placed great emphasis on learning, and reportedly gave their son a great deal of encouragement to pursue his studies.
Salk achieved his bachelor's degree in science from City College of New York, and earned his MD from New York University. He then went on to a fellowship at the University of Michigan, where he studied flu viruses.
At the University of Pittsburgh, where he accepted a position in 1947, Salk began his research into polio. He soon determined that there were three types of polio virus, and successfully developed a "killed virus" vaccine, which went into preliminary testing in 1952.
Approval of the vaccine for general use came in 1955, and with it came hero status for Salk. He was awarded a special citation by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in a White House ceremony.
As with other Jewish and national luminaries, there is also a street in Israel named after Salk, in the southern city of Ashdod.
Salk famously refused to patent his vaccine, saying in 1952, "There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?"
Salk spent his final years working toward a vaccine for HIV. He died on June 23, 1995, at the age of 80.
