Wednesday, August 11, 2004
JONAS SALK'S DAUGHTER SPEAKS OUT: LAURA BUSH IS RIGHT!
By Stockton
Jonas Salk's eldest daughter believes her father would have agreed with First Lady Laura Bush's position on stem-cell research.
"Most certainly," said Edna Green, Salk's eldest daughter. "He often came home from the office discouraged about the vaccines progress. He once told me he wouldn't have a cure soon so what's the point! It would only be giving people false hope. To be honest, Laura's right on the money with this one."
In a speech on Monday, the First Lady said:
Thanks Dr. Salk!
Sorry, but you're on your own.
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By Stockton
Jonas Salk's eldest daughter believes her father would have agreed with First Lady Laura Bush's position on stem-cell research.
"Most certainly," said Edna Green, Salk's eldest daughter. "He often came home from the office discouraged about the vaccines progress. He once told me he wouldn't have a cure soon so what's the point! It would only be giving people false hope. To be honest, Laura's right on the money with this one."
In a speech on Monday, the First Lady said:
Embryonic stem cell research is "very preliminary right now, and the implication that cures for Alzheimer's are around the corner is just not right. And it's really not fair to the people who are watching a loved one suffer with this."
Salk is best known as the man who cured polio. In 1947, Salk accepted an appointment to the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. While working there, with the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, Salk saw an opportunity to develop a vaccine against polio, and devoted himself to this work for the next eight years.
In 1955 Salk's years of research paid off. Human trials of the polio vaccine effectively protected the subject from the polio virus. When news of the discovery was made public on April 12, 1955, Salk was hailed as a miracle worker. He further endeared himself to the public by refusing to patent the vaccine. He had no desire to profit personally from the discovery, but merely wished to see the vaccine disseminated as widely as possible.
