Enders (Enders), John

February 10, 1897, Mr.. - September 8, 1985
American bacteriologist, John Franklin Enders was born in West Hartford (Conn.), the son of banker John Ostrema Enders and Enders, Harriet (Whitmore). After a prestigious school of St.. Paul in New Hampshire, John in 1915. enrolled at Yale University. When in 1917. The United States entered the First World War, E. left university and joined the Air Force, receiving the rank of lieutenant Aviation. After the war he returned to Yale University and in 1920. received a bachelor's degree.
After graduating from the University of E. began working as manager in Hartford, but soon realized that was not created for a business career. E. entered Harvard University in 1922. received a master's degree in English literature, and then continued his studies at the University. During this period he lived in a dormitory in the same room with a student at Harvard Medical School, introduced him with Hans Tsinserom, microbiologist, head of the department of bacteriology and immunology at Harvard University.
. Tsinser was a man of wide range of interests - scholar, writer, thinker
. He possessed the ability to infect surrounding his scientific enthusiasm. Tsinser persuaded E. engage in microbiology, and in 1927. E. began working in his laboratory.
In 1930. E. received his doctorate at Harvard University. His thesis was on Anaphylaxis - allergic condition, which was first described by Charles Richet. Then he became a lecturer at Harvard University and continued to work with Tsinserom, investigating the stability of the immune system in relation to the introduction of bacteria, and especially microorganisms, which causes pneumonia. In 1937, recalled E. He 'moved from the study of bacterial growth study of immunity to herpes simplex virus. Experiments with the virus have caused concern to the pathogens of this type ', ie. viruses mammals.
Viruses are parasites. Despite the fact that viruses have their own genes, they do not have mechanisms to transfer genetic information to proteins. Therefore, to survive they need to penetrate into some kind of cell and use its genes and proteins for reproduction.
In 1930. about viruses, little was known. Scientists have found that some pathogens are too small to ensure that they can be isolated using the filters used to isolate the bacteria, or to see through the best optical microscopes. It was also known that these microorganisms can not grow in media used for culturing bacteria and devoid of living tissue. However, they can be grown in living organisms or tissues.
At the beginning of XX century. Alexis Carrel developed a method for cultivation of living tissues in laboratory vessels, but it was not widespread. Cultivation of mammalian cells in vitro, ie. in an artificial environment - is extremely delicate and slow process. In addition, if the bacteria enter an environment, they begin to grow faster than the cells of mammals and the environment is unsuitable. Even despite the fact that Carrel developed methods that prevent contamination of crops, his methods were so complicated that the Nobel committee likened them to a secret 'rituals', and Carrel awarded the Nobel Prize.
When E. first became interested in viruses, he was already familiar with many issues tissue culture. One of the main areas of research was to study Tsinsera typhoid - diseases caused by rickettsia. These microorganisms are similar to viruses that can multiply only inside as other cells. Tsinser and E. tried to get a vaccine against typhoid fever by cultivation of rickettsiae in tissue culture. After death Tsinsera in 1940. rickettsiae could grow another scientist - Gerald Cox, who worked in the health system of the United States. As a culture, he used chicken embryos.
By studying the viruses, e. initially investigated many disease-causing organisms. In 1940. he and his assistant, Thomas X. Weller, who was then a student at Harvard Medical School, studied Vaccine strain of vaccinia virus used to develop vaccine. Despite the fact that E. and his colleagues have not been able to grow a virus in tissue culture in sufficient quantities for vaccine production, they have received from the infected animal vaccine against the plague of cats. Through this work they have acquired extensive experience in the cultivation of tissue.
When in 1941. The United States entered World War II, E. interrupted studies on tissue culture and adopt a more traditional work - the study of mumps virus ( 'pigs'), using live animals. From 1942 to 1946. he was a civilian military advisor to the Secretary for Infectious Diseases. After the war, E. accepted the proposal to create a new research laboratory for studying infectious diseases at Pediatric Hospital Boston. E. invited to cooperate Weller, the latter in turn led Frederick W. Robbins, with whom he lived in a dorm room, as a medical student.
In early 1947. E. and his colleagues have again begun to study virus replication in tissue culture, trying to grow in the cells of chicken embryos for mumps virus, which they have studied during the war. Their most important achievement in this area has become a continuous tissue culture technique. Subsequently, the scientists wrote that 'instead of at intervals of 3 ... 4 days to transfer material from one culture to another, we maintain tissue renewing culture medium'. Through the continuous addition of new culture medium, scientists were able to maintain the cell culture during the month, which is quite possible to obtain even slowly growing mumps virus. To a large extent due to the fact that by that time, Alexander Fleming, Ernst B. Cheney and Howard U. Flory was discovered penicillin, and Zel'manov A. Waxman - Streptomycin, the researchers were able to do without sophisticated methods of preventing bacterial contamination, developed by Alexis Carrel. Because these antibiotics effectively kill bacteria, but do not damage the cells of mammals, a combination of virtually ruled out the introduction to the culture of bacteria.
. Convinced that their method made it possible to grow the virus of mumps, E
. and his colleagues decided to cultivate the varicella zoster virus. To do this, Weller began to cultivate a culture of human tissue. As scientists later wrote, 'we have created a culture, but at the same time, literally at your fingertips, in a chamber for storage, we had a Lansing strain of polio -. Therefore, we suddenly hit upon the idea that we have no special additional efforts have already prepared everything in order to try to grow this virus in the nervous tissue '.
In 1948, Mr.. E., Robbins and Weller somewhat unexpectedly for themselves were growing polio virus is not in the culture of nervous tissue Rights. At that time it was thought that the virus can grow only in nerve cells. Besides, . Scientists have developed new methods of cultivation of cells in a solid (but not in liquid, . as in the cultivation of the virus mumps), . control of viral replication and the use virussoderzhaschih cell cultures to test the antibodies to polio.,
. In 1954, Mr.
. E., Weller and Robbins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the 'discovery of the ability to grow the polio virus in cultures of various types of tissues'. In presenting the award researcher from the Karolinska Institute said Sven Gard, . that 'the use of human tissue culture has allowed to address the many problems of Virology, . that was previously impossible because of the lack of susceptible laboratory animals',
. Gard noted that these problems relate not only polio but also measles and herpes zoster. After some time, methods E., Robbins and Weller were used Jonas Salk, Albert Seybinom and other scientists who received the first vaccine against polio.
Until the end of scientific activity E. continued research on virology in a pediatric hospital in Boston. In 1954, Mr.. he and his staff was able to identify measles virus, grow it in tissue culture and create a strain that causes immunity, but not the disease itself. This strain served as the basis for the development of modern measles vaccine. In 1967. E. in connection with the retirement of left his job at Harvard University, and he was awarded the title of honorary professor of bacteriology and immunology at Harvard Medical School. At the same time E. remained interested in medical research and in the last years of his life studying the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
In 1927, Mr.. E. married Sarah Frances Bennett. In the family they were born a daughter and son. In 1943, Mr.. E. widower, and in 1951. married Carolyn Keene. In his spare time E. loved to play the piano, working in the garden and to fish. September 8, 1985, Mr.. He died suddenly at his country house in the Waterford (Conn.).
In addition to the Nobel Prize, E. was also awarded the Prize for Medicine Foundation Passau Passau (1953), . Lasker Award of the American Public Health Association (1954), . Prize for scientific achievement of the American Medical Association (1963), . Presidential Medal of Freedom (1963) and other honorary awards,
. He had honorary degrees from many universities - Yale, Harvard, Oxford, Northwestern, University, Case Western Reserve, Tufts, Tyuleyna, as well as Trinity College. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Association of Immunologists.