by Gidon Schwartz, Education & Outreach Executive
In 1981 there were over 66,000 recorded cases of polio worldwide. In 2021 there were just 6. Polio is a dangerous, highly infectious virus that mainly affects small children. Most people infected never show symptoms but can still spread it, while others suffer sore throats, muscle aches or, in the worst cases, paralysis of limbs and even the muscles needed to breathe. The near eradication of polio is one of humanity’s greatest medical achievements, and it is largely thanks to Jonas Salk, a scientist whose choices made it clear that he worked for the good of people, not for personal gain.
Born in 1914 in New York, Jonas was the son of Daniel, from New Jersey, and Dora, who had emigrated from Minsk. Neither of his parents had a formal education, yet Jonas was academically gifted and attended a school for talented children. The school was known for its intensity, and many students dropped out. Jonas, however, pushed himself with quiet determination and graduated with grades strong enough to earn a place at City College of New York. There he studied Chemistry without paying tuition, though the facilities were basic and lacked research laboratories. Still, he worked relentlessly, encouraged by his mother, to reach medical school even though his original dream had been to become a lawyer.
He went on to study at New York University School of Medicine, where his real passion emerged: research. He wasn’t drawn to practising medicine; instead, he wanted to understand how diseases worked and how they could be stopped. He took a year away from his medical studies to dive deeper into biochemistry and became fascinated by bacteria and viruses. This led to an opportunity to work in a lab studying the influenza virus, which had only recently been discovered. By his final year at medical school, he was already conducting meaningful research.
In 1942, Jonas secured a research fellowship at the University of Michigan, where he worked with Thomas Francis to develop an influenza vaccine. Their vaccine soon became widely used on army bases, showing Jonas that careful science could protect lives on a large scale. But his biggest contribution was still ahead.
By 1947, Jonas was leading a virus research lab at the University of Pittsburgh, where he began developing a polio vaccine. His approach was bold and unconventional: he used a “dead” version of the virus; one he believed would not cause harm but would still teach the immune system how to defend against the real threat. After rigorous testing, Jonas first injected the vaccine into volunteers including his wife and children in 1953. When no negative reactions appeared, one million children were vaccinated in large-scale trials. In 1955 the vaccine was declared safe and effective, and a national rollout began. Between 1955 and 1962, average yearly polio cases in the United States fell from 45,000 to just 910.
Despite its extraordinary success, Jonas Salk refused to patent the vaccine. He did not earn a single dollar from what was estimated to be a 7-billion-dollar discovery. When asked who owned the patent, he famously replied, “The people. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?” To Jonas, the purpose of his work was simple: it was meant to protect children, not to make him wealthy. By refusing the patent, he ensured the vaccine could be produced widely, cheaply and quickly, reaching millions who may otherwise never have afforded it.
His work made him one of the most celebrated scientists in the world. In the 1950s, passengers applauded when pilots announced he was on board, hotels offered him penthouse suites, and he rarely managed a quiet meal in a restaurant. But Jonas never sought fame. He longed to return to his lab, where he felt most at home alongside his research team. Later in life, reflecting on the burden of being a public figure, he said, “It’s as if I’ve been a public property ever since… It’s brought me enormous gratification, opened many opportunities, but at the same time placed many burdens on me. It altered my career, my relationships with colleagues; I am a public figure, no longer one of them.”
Jonas married Donna Lindsay in 1939, the day after his graduation from medical school. Donna came from a wealthy background, while Jonas grew up more modestly. Her father reluctantly agreed to their marriage on two conditions: that they wait until Jonas officially became a doctor, and that Jonas give himself a middle name. The couple later divorced in 1968, and two years after that Jonas married Françoise Gilot, a French painter who had previously been in a relationship with Pablo Picasso.
Throughout his life, Jonas Salk remained driven by a belief that scientific progress should serve humanity. His vaccine saved countless children, transformed global health and pushed the world to the brink of eliminating a devastating disease. And he did it not for recognition, and certainly not for profit, but because he believed that knowledge should be shared and that science, at its best, belongs to everyone.
