Albert Sabin, a noted virologist, developed an oral vaccine for polio that led to the once-dreaded disease's virtual extinction in the Western Hemisphere. Sabin's long and distinguished research career included many major contributions to virology, including work that led to the development of attenuated live-virus vaccines. During World War II, he developed effective vaccines against dengue fever and Japanese B encephalitis. The development of a live polio vaccine, however, was Sabin's crowning achievement.

Although Sabin's polio vaccine was not the first, it eventually proved to be the most effective and became the predominant mode of protection against polio throughout the Western world. In South America, "Sabin Sundays" were held twice a year to eradicate the disease. The race to produce the first effective vaccine against polio was marked by intense and often acrimonious competition between scientists and their supporters; in addition to the primary goal of saving children...