Jonas Salk was an American physician and virologist who developed the first successful vaccine against poliomyelitis, using inactivated (killed) poliovirus injected into the bloodstream. Announced in 1955 after a nationwide field trial involving more than a million children, the vaccine sharply reduced polio cases in the United States within a few years. Salk chose not to patent the vaccine so it could be produced and distributed as widely and cheaply as possible; asked who owned the patent, he is widely quoted as replying, Could you patent the sun?
Facts
FAQs
Did Jonas Salk patent the polio vaccine?
No. Salk chose not to patent his polio vaccine so it could be made as widely and cheaply available as possible.
Jonas Salk, the American physician and virologist who developed the first successful polio vaccine using inactivated poliovirus, chose not to patent it so it could be produced and distributed as widely and cheaply as possible. Asked who owned the patent, he is widely quoted as replying, Could you patent the sun? The vaccine was announced in 1955 after a nationwide field trial involving more than a million children and sharply reduced polio cases in the United States within a few years.
Connections
Held Differently
Albert Sabin, Healers Developed a competing, later polio vaccine strategy (live oral vs. Salk's injected inactivated vaccine); this atlas already records the eradication-strategy tradeoff as an open question.
Source Albert Sabin (Wikipedia)
Discoveries
Inactivated, injected vaccine, announced 1955.
Source Wikipedia: Poliomyelitis Vaccine
Institutions Founded
Specialist In
Source Jonas Salk (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Source Wikidata: Jonas Salk
Sources
1. Wikidata: Jonas Salk
- Wikidata Q200101, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata P569 (w-bbfill-medicine3-0926)
View the Source2. Jonas Salk (Wikipedia)
WikipediaDevelopment; 1955 field trial and announcement; Decision not to patent
Could you patent the sun?
Infobox: birth_date
October 28, 1914
Infobox: death_date
June 23, 1995
- Specialist In: Virology
In Group: Vaccine and Antibiotic Developers, Introduction, sentence 1
Jonas Edward Salk (; born Jonas Salk; October 28, 1914, June 23, 1995) was an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines.
View the Source Wikipedia: Poliomyelitis Vaccine
Albert Sabin (Wikipedia)
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