Jonas Salk (October 28, 1914 - June 23, 1995) is the discoverer/inventor of the eponymous Salk vaccine (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. 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 named in Jonas Salk's honor.
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