His partner, Dr. Catherine Ward, confirmed the death but did not give a specific cause.
Dr. Epstein’s research The isolation of the herpes virus in the 1960s led to the discovery of viral and biological triggers for cancers such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and its association with other diseases including multiple sclerosis, lupus, and, more recently, so-called The foundation has been laid for extensive research into potential associations. long coronavirus.
Research has since expanded to detect other cancer-causing viruses, such as human papillomavirus (HPV). But unlike HPV, no vaccine has been developed for Epstein-Barr, named after Dr. Epstein and his colleagues. Yvonne Barrit is thought to exist in more than one. 90 percent of the world’s population.
“Everyone’s putting bricks in the wall” Dr. Epstein Said Regarding the multifaceted nature of research on epstein barr virus. “Stacks of bricks make buildings.”
To most people, Epstein Barr is a silent hitchhiker. It is transmitted through saliva and other body fluids, and is often acquired during childhood. The virus lurks in the throat and blood cells, and it will probably come back as a bout of mononucleosis or fatigue, or there will be no symptoms at all. However, in some cases, the virus can rapidly replicate and infect host cells.
“This is very stealthy,” says Jeffrey Cohen, director of the infectious disease laboratory at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Said The New York Times in 2022.
This is where science gets ambiguous. There is consensus that the surge in Epstein-Barr virus is associated with stomach, nasal system, and some blood cancers. The extent to which this virus serves as a potential stepping stone for other cancers, severe inflammation such as viral meningitis, and a range of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis is less clear.
The problem is that the Epstein-Barr virus is so prevalent that researchers are having a hard time proving direct cause and effect. However, the virus can be grown and maintained in a laboratory setting, making it invaluable in cancer research by observing its effects on healthy cells and tissues.
“We can monitor how [the virus] It works in all kinds of biological environments and in many different cells,” Smita Bhaduri McIntosh, director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Florida College of Medicine, said in an interview. “This is an invaluable model for studying how things can go wrong.”
For Dr. Epstein, the failure to find a vaccine remained a lifelong frustration. In the latest vaccine effort, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has begun its first clinical trial in more than a decade in 2022. “The link is not understood, but the evidence is there.” Said Dr. Epstein talks about how viruses appear to be contributing to increased rates of cancer and disease. “But without that [the virus] There is no continuous chain… [and] You can get rid of it by getting a vaccine to prevent infection. ”
Decades ago, his research into viruses began as a pure scientific coincidence. In 1961, Dr. Epstein heard about a lecture the Northern Ireland-born surgeon gave at London’s Middlesex Hospital Medical School. Dennis Burkitt He was based in Uganda, where he was researching mysterious tumors that were common in the jaws of local children. At the time, Dr. Epstein was studying the link between viruses and disease in birds and other animals.
Dr. Epstein decided to listen to Burkitt’s opinion. He was sitting in the back seat and was planning on slipping out if he wasn’t interested. Instead, Dr. Epstein was riveted by Burkitt’s description of the tumor (as it was later named). Burkitt lymphoma) and how its occurrence is closely related to climate and other factors. Epstein thought Burkitt’s findings were similar to his work on the link between animals and viruses. “I could hardly sit still. … It must have been a human tumor caused by a virus,” he recalled.
Dr. Epstein asked Burkitt to send tumor tissue from Uganda. For many years, no progress was made in the analysis. Then, in December 1963, samples on his BOAC flight bound for London were diverted to Manchester due to fog. By the time the tumor tissue reached Dr. Epstein a few days later, the package seemed useless. The surrounding area was covered in a cloudy liquid that appeared to be bacteria. This mixture turned out to be a soup of floating lymphoma cells sloughed off by the tumor. Rather than throw it away and ask Burkitt for more, Dr. Epstein decided to try growing the cells in culture.
“So I thought, ‘Why not give it a try?'” he recalls. When viewed under an electron microscope, the cells finally revealed their secrets and the virus particles were clearly visible. A 1964 paper published in the British medical journal The Lancet, written by Dr. Epstein, Dr. Barr, and research assistant Bart Achon, was the first to demonstrate the presence of an unknown virus in human tumors. It describes a momentous moment.
in 2014 interview Speaking to the BBC, Dr Epstein recalled that he had to calm down after realizing he had stumbled upon a new virus and its apparent link to human cancer. He took a long walk in the snow and then returned to double check his findings.
“This felt special,” he said.
Michael Anthony Epstein was born on May 18, 1921 in London. He studied at Trinity College, Oxford University and Middlesex Hospital Medical School.
After World War II, he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps before returning to Middlesex Hospital as a pathology assistant. In his early medical research, he investigated the Rous sarcoma retrovirus, the first carcinogenic virus observed in birds.
Dr. Epstein was Professor of Pathology at the University of Bristol from 1968 to 1985 and then a Research Fellow at the University. wolfson university Dr. Epstein remained at the University of Oxford until his retirement in 2001. Dr. Epstein was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991.
Dr. Epstein’s marriage to Lisbeth Knight ended in divorce. Survivors include her partner, Ward, and her three children from the marriage, Simon Epstein, Michael Epstein and Susan Holmes.
In 1991, at Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, England, Dr. Epstein and Burkitt discussed the events that led to the discovery of Epstein Barr.
“It was really a series of accidents,” Dr. Epstein said with a smile. “Lucky Habit.”
“But you have to have two things,” Burkitt said. “You need an accident, so to speak, and a mind that can interpret it, look behind it, and understand its meaning.”
“Of course, that’s what Louis Pasteur said, right?” Dr. Epstein replied. “‘Chance favors the prepared mind.'”
