Dr. Jonas Salk :: Biographies Medicine Papers

Dr. Jonas SalkAn Ameri arse hero once said, Many wise individuals have had no formal education.... They possess a powerful intuitive faculty and ar able to learn from get a line, from what they observe (Pamplin, Jr. and Eisler 127). Although not entirely fact mood of his own past, this American hero was Dr. Jonas Salk and he believed that education was not always the key to success. The great innovator believed that the answers to life are often set up in an individuals experiences preferably than buried among the pages of a textbook. Indeed, the ideas that formed the gear upation of Salks sterling(prenominal) accomplishmentthe first effective polio vaccinewere not found in any fancy college textbook, but came to light because he did not believe that some established scientific theories were the only way that problems could be solved. More specifically, as a young medical student in 1936 sitting in a lecture for a course entitle Bacteriology and Immunology, Salk recalls an ex perience that altered the course of his life (Sherrow 31)I remember real vividly all the details about where I was sitting and what was happening, just about as if the light was turned on and everything became clear....We were told that one could immunize against diphtheria and tetanus.In the next lecture, we were told it was not possible to immunize with a chemically set or noninfectious (killed) virus vaccine, so that struck me as rather odd. How could both statements be true? And I remember the answer we were assumption was that the cells of the inoculated individual that were involved in a virus infection had to go through the experience of the infection itself. Why should that be, when the cells going through that experience were thus destroyed? How could that immunize cells that did not experience infection? Somethings scathe here, I thought.For me, what came together was the question Is it true you need a abide virus for a safe, effective vaccine? And if its not true, t hen what can be done with viruses, as can be done with a toxin, to render them harmless while retaining their effectiveness for immunization?This encounter stayed with Salk end-to-end his life and helped to determine the path along which he would conduct his lifes work. As stated in the opening quote, this intuitive ability that he possess did not come from spending hours learning from his textbooks, but simply came from the unexceptional experience of attending a lecture for class.