Baruch Blumberg's guest appearances

Baruch Blumberg

Desert Island Discs

What It Takes®

Desert Island Discs: Archive 2000-2005

Stephen Sondheim

Frank McCourt

Trevor Nunn

Albie Sachs

Kazuo Ishiguro

Ian McEwan

Buddy Guy

Lynn Nottage

Ewan McGregor

Elie Wiesel

Oprah Winfrey

Toni Morrison

Bryan Stevenson

Jimmy Carter

Larry King

OwlTail

Gertrude Elion

Millions of lives are saved each year with the vaccines developed by these two Nobel Prize recipients.  Their discoveries were some of the  greatest medical achievements of the 20th century.    Gertrude Elion was a biochemist, who unraveled the mysteries and mechanisms of leukemia, herpes, gout, malaria &amp; meningitis in order to create effective medications. She transformed kidney transplantation, by creating the first immune suppressant to prevent rejection by organ recipients.   And her work led to the first successful HIV/AIDS drug.  Baruch Blumberg was a physician who traveled the world studying the interplay of genetics and environment on disease response, and along way discovered the virus that was causing Hepatitis B - a leading cause of fatal kidney disease and cancer.  He then created a vaccine for it, and is believed to have prevented more cancer deaths than any other human being. (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2020

Millions of lives are saved each year with the vaccines developed by these two Nobel Prize recipients.  Their discoveries were some of the  greatest medical achievements of the 20th century.    Gertrude Elion was a biochemist, who unraveled the mysteries and mechanisms of leukemia, herpes, gout, malaria &amp; meningitis in order to create effective medications. She transformed kidney transplantation, by creating the first immune suppressant to prevent rejection by organ recipients.   And her work led to the first successful HIV/AIDS drug.  Baruch Blumberg was a physician who traveled the world studying the interplay of genetics and environment on disease response, and along way discovered the virus that was causing Hepatitis B - a leading cause of fatal kidney disease and cancer.  He then created a vaccine for it, and is believed to have prevented more cancer deaths than any other human being. (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2020

Gertrude Elion and Baruch Blumberg: Vaccine Hunters

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Professor Baruch Blumberg. Barry Blumberg was born in Brooklyn, New York in the 1920s, just before the economic depression in 1929. As a young boy he was particularly interested in science, and when his family moved to Queens he turned the basement of his parents house into a laboratory. At age 17, during the Second World War, he was enlisted into the Navy. They sent him to do an accelerated two year physics degree before he was trained to become a deck officer serving on small amphibious ships - he was fortunate not to be in war areas and enjoyed his experience.After the war Barry re-trained as a doctor. He worked in a large New York hospital before becoming interested in research. After a spell doing his doctorate at Oxford University he returned to the United States and focused on basic research into ethnic diversity. He was interested in how people differ to each other, why some people got sick and others didn't, with particular reference to disease. Through extensive research on this subject, Barry and his team discovered the Hepatitis B virus. This discovery of the antigen was the key to developing a vaccine and put in place special blood screening for transfusions to prevent further spread of the disease. In 1976 Barry was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Since then he has continued his research and also worked at NASA where he has been researching astral biology - the possibility of life on other planets.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: City of New Orleans by Willie NelsonBook: Ulysses by James JoyceLuxury: A flat water kayak suitable for rough water

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Professor Baruch Blumberg. Barry Blumberg was born in Brooklyn, New York in the 1920s, just before the economic depression in 1929. As a young boy he was particularly interested in science, and when his family moved to Queens he turned the basement of his parents house into a laboratory. At age 17, during the Second World War, he was enlisted into the Navy. They sent him to do an accelerated two year physics degree before he was trained to become a deck officer serving on small amphibious ships - he was fortunate not to be in war areas and enjoyed his experience. After the war Barry re-trained as a doctor. He worked in a large New York hospital before becoming interested in research. After a spell doing his doctorate at Oxford University he returned to the United States and focused on basic research into ethnic diversity. He was interested in how people differ to each other, why some people got sick and others didn't, with particular reference to disease. Through extensive research on this subject, Barry and his team discovered the Hepatitis B virus. This discovery of the antigen was the key to developing a vaccine and put in place special blood screening for transfusions to prevent further spread of the disease. In 1976 Barry was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Since then he has continued his research and also worked at NASA where he has been researching astral biology - the possibility of life on other planets. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: City of New Orleans by Willie Nelson Book: Ulysses by James Joyce Luxury: A flat water kayak suitable for rough water

Professor Baruch Blumberg