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Thanks, Howard

Jul 17, 2008

Virologist Howard Bachrach, who was the first person to purify the polio and foot-and-mouth disease viruses died at the end of June, reports the Los Angeles Times. Bachrach's work on polio in the 1950s made it possible for Jonas Salk to develop a vaccine against the disease. While working at Plum Island, Bachrach discovered that capsid proteins on the surface of the foot-and-mouth disease virus could produce an immune response in both people and animals. Bachrach received the National Medal of Science in 1983. He was 88.

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