Was looking into the origins of when and by who viruses were discovered. Looks like the idea of viruses didn't really take off until poilo and its vaccine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus
Another breakthrough came in 1931 when the American pathologist Ernest William Goodpasture and Alice Miles Woodruff grew influenza and several other viruses in fertilised chicken eggs.[33] In 1949, John Franklin Enders, Thomas Weller, and Frederick Robbins grew poliovirus in cultured cells from aborted human embryonic tissue,[34] the first virus to be grown without using solid animal tissue or eggs. This work enabled Hilary Koprowski, and then Jonas Salk, to make an effective polio vaccine.[35]
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_William_Goodpasture
he was subsequently appointed a Rockefeller Fellow in pathology
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Franklin_Enders
His father, John Ostrom Enders, was CEO of the Hartford National Bank and left him a fortune of $19 million upon his death.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Koprowski
Hilary Koprowski was born in Warsaw to an educated, assimilated Jewish family.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Salk
Jonas Salk was born in New York City to Daniel and Dora (née Press) Salk. His parents were Ashkenazi Jewish
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Interesting how its rich people and jews involved.