Daniel Carleton Gajdusek

{{jpg-image} Daniel Carleton Gajdusek (September 9, 1923 – December 12, 2008) was an American physician and medical researcher who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1976 for his work on kuru, a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affected the Fore people of Papua New Guinea. His research played a crucial role in the discovery of prions, infectious proteins that are now known to cause a variety of neurodegenerative diseases.

Early Life and Education

Daniel Carleton Gajdusek was born in Yonkers, New York, to Hungarian immigrants. He showed an early interest in biology and science, which led him to pursue a career in medicine. Gajdusek graduated from the University of Rochester with a degree in biophysics in 1943 and later received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1946. After completing his medical training, he joined the United States Army Medical Corps, where he began his research career focusing on infectious diseases.

Career and Research

Gajdusek's interest in virology and rare diseases took him to many parts of the world. In the early 1950s, he went to Australia and then to Papua New Guinea, where he first encountered kuru among the Fore people. Kuru, which means "shivering" or "trembling" in the Fore language, was a mysterious disease that led to the degeneration of the central nervous system, resulting in death. Gajdusek hypothesized that the disease was transmitted through the Fore's ritualistic cannibalism, specifically through the consumption of the brains of deceased relatives, which was part of their funeral rites. Collaborating with virologist Michael Alpers, Gajdusek conducted extensive field studies and experiments that eventually led to the confirmation of his hypothesis. Their groundbreaking work demonstrated that kuru was transmitted through a novel infectious agent, which was later identified as a prion by Stanley B. Prusiner. This discovery was pivotal in the field of neuroscience and infectious disease, leading to a better understanding of other neurodegenerative diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mad cow disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

Nobel Prize and Later Career

In 1976, Gajdusek was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Baruch S. Blumberg, for their "discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases." Following his Nobel Prize win, Gajdusek continued his research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States, focusing on viral diseases and the genetic aspects of neurological disorders.

Controversy and Legal Issues

In 1996, Gajdusek's career was overshadowed by controversy when he was arrested and charged with child molestation. He pleaded guilty to two counts of abuse and was sentenced to prison. This aspect of his life has sparked discussions about the complexities of human behavior and the impact of personal actions on professional legacies.

Legacy

Despite the controversies, Gajdusek's contributions to medical science and his pioneering work on prion diseases have left a lasting impact on the field. His research opened new pathways for understanding and diagnosing neurodegenerative diseases, contributing significantly to the fields of virology and infectious disease.

See Also

• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Prion
• Neurodegenerative disease
• Infectious disease