Jonas Salk

Jonas Salk (The Biography.com )

"Hope lies in dreams, Imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality". (Jonas Salk)That is the famous quote from Dr.Jonas Salk, The first person in history to make a vaccine for the polio virus. In his early years also make an effective vaccine for influenza for World War II but now there was a new epidemic, polio, and Jonas Salk was determined to make a working vaccine. Instead of making a weakened version of a polio strain, he wanted to make a killed form that would we be both non-lethal, but effective. Dr.Jonas Salk fought a horrible disease that causes paralysis in young children. He began testing around the 1940s at the University of Michigan. He wasn't alone in the fight though. He had a competitor, Albert Sabin. Salk and Sabin were thinking about the superiority of their vaccines. Jonas Salk beat Sabin In that race, because Salk was a quick thinker. A hero is someone who is selfless and puts his life or reputation to help others. My hero Jonas Salk possesses intelligence, and determination. Therefore he is a hero.

Jonas Salk giving his polio vaccine (wdet.org)

Jonas Salk thought differently from all the other scientists of his day, and because of that he showed even more intelligence that was ahead of his time: "It was reported that schools were closed in celebration of this event, many universities awarded Salk honorary degrees, he was given a Congressional Medal, and France made him a member of the Legion of Honor. Salk, the son of a New York City garment worker, had become one of the most well-known and publicly venerated medical scientists in the world."(Stong) Jonas Salk was intelligent because he thought differently. By inventing a killed form of Polio, Jonas Salk revolutionized medicine and specifically making vaccines. Salk's vaccine was proven successful, but was controversial at first. When his theories were correct, that boosted his confidence to make a public announcement to America that a vaccine for polio has been made. His intellect became widely known and opened a whole new world in virology: "In 1947 Salk accepted a position at the University of Pittsburgh as associate professor of bacteriology, where he carried out his researches on a polio vaccine. This provided a starting point for Salk, who, working under a grant from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, prepared a killed-virus vaccine effective against all three types." (Stong) He showed brilliance in his earlier years, and accepted a position at the University of Pittsburgh. He was very confident about his vaccine. The first people to receive it were his wife and children. A year later it became global with everybody receiving it in America and eventually in Europe. He risked his own career to make sure that everybody is protected against the virus that is Polio. Every year, millions of lives are saved because of his vaccination. People all over the world won't have to fear the dreaded symptoms that come with catching polio.

Jonas Salk on the front page of Time Magazine (content.time.com (2015 Time Inc))

What really drove him was the determination of saving millions of lives, if he succeeded in making a vaccine. Dangerous and dreaded disease polio is feared by millions of Americans each year. America 1950s, announced that Jonas Salk is close to finding a vaccine for polio. It restored hope in many Americans: "National field trials were held in 1954, and in 1955 the vaccine was determined safe for general use. Acceptance of the vaccine was not without problems for Salk. Fear, skepticism, opposition from medical colleagues who favored a live-virus vaccine, improper production of the vaccine by some pharmaceutical companies, and a glaring Hollywood-like promotion for the vaccine caused much scientific criticism of Salk."(Stong) He went through many stages, many years of research and prototypes for a successful vaccine. When he felt confident about his vaccine he was his first test subject. He put his career on the line just to prove that it worked. Years and years of research paid off in the end but not being too time consuming like his rival in the race to beat polio. It was definitely not easy constantly taking heat and being dis proven from other scientists of his day. He's was determined and pulled through: "Though a few colleagues supported Salk's idea, Sabin shot him down. The NFIP wasn't going to change its procedures. But Salk didn't have to follow them in his own lab. There he used the new procedure, saving 140 monkeys per strain. Thanks to this greater speed, by 1949 the lab was wrapping up its typing project, which gave a boost to basic research. Looking for a new project, Salk returned to his idea for making a killed-virus vaccine. Salk persuaded the NFIP to fund the equipment to culture viruses in his lab. (Jonas Salk Faced Down Fears, Doomsayers To Conquer Polio Don't Quit :) The preparation to make a killed form of the virus took at least three years of research and preparation. When they started testing, they began testing in the kidneys of monkeys and smaller rodents such as mice. It took many years to be both effective and safe in humans. Even after he created the vaccine, he spent many years refining it, to make it better and the most effective. Working as hard as Jonas was and at a fast paced finally paid off for him and got the fame and credit he so rightfully deserved.

Jonas Salk in his later years (jonassalklegacyfoundation.org (Courtesy of the Salk Institute for Biological Stud))

Jonas Salk is an Inspiration because of his intelligence and determination which makes him a hero. In Jonas Salk's high school years he's been put into a school for exceptional students and that genius lead him on the steps of creating a polio vaccine to save millions of lives each year. Salk also helped contribute to research for other vaccines. In the 1960s, people began using Albert Sabin's vaccine. Both Albert Sabin and Jonas Salk were bitter rivals in developing Polio vaccines. Scientists found out that people had to use both vaccines to end polio. Salk probably realized towards the end of his life, that both vaccines were inferior, not just his or Sabin's. Jonas Salk is an inspiration, because by the time he passed away most of America's Polio epidemic died with him. People no longer will be scared or worried about Polio anymore. Because of Salk being an inspiration he received many awards for his research and development for the first Polio vaccine. He received Nobel Peace Prize and a French Legion of Honor. His legacy lives on at the Salk Institute where every day they find cures for today's diseases. Just hoping they could be successful just like Dr.Salk.