Verbatim: Jonas Salk
Virologist Jonas Salk led the team that developed the breakthrough vaccine for polio. He was also a social critic.
These Good News Medical Stories Got Us through 2020
The science of COVID-19 vaccines, the 1957 flu vaccine that controlled that outbreak, eradicating polio in India with oral vaccines, and more.
How Scientists Tried to Find a Universal Flu Vaccine
The quest to “conquer” influenza with a shot that could be used every year started out with high hopes, and ended up a hot mess.
The COVID-19 Vaccines Arrived at Warp Speed
Are they safe if they were developed so quickly? Research-backed answers to your virus questions.
The Deadly Bilibid Prison Vaccine Trials
In 1906, physician Richard Strong's already-unethical vaccine experiment went horribly wrong. Then it was swept under the rug.
Dry Ice Will Help Keep COVID-19 Vaccines Cold
A brief history of dry ice, aka solid carbon dioxide, shows why some coronavirus vaccines will benefit from its use.
How Will a Coronavirus Vaccine Work?
Four different ways researchers use the virus's own structure to train our immune systems to exterminate it.
Before Vaccines, Variolation Was Seriously Trendy
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu is credited with popularizing variolation among the aristocracy in England.
How Children Took the Smallpox Vaccine around the World
In 1803, nearly two dozen orphan boys endured long voyages and physical discomfort to transport the smallpox vaccine to Spain's colonies.
The Measles Might Make Your Body “Forget” Its Own Immunity
Scientists have found that sometimes people infected with measles later develop "immune amnesia": their bodies don't remember being sick, even with other viruses.