Eddy, Bernice (b. 1903)

views updated

Eddy, Bernice (b. 1903)

American microbiologist. Born Bernice Eddy, 1903, in Glendale, West Virginia; dau. of Nathan Eddy (physician); University of Cincinnati, PhD in bacteriology, 1927; m. Jerald G. Wooley, 1938; children: Bernice and Sarah.

Began working with the Public Health Service (early 1930s); joined the Biologics Control Division at National Institute of Health (NIH); discovered that batches of a "killed-virus" polio vaccine could actually cause the disease (1950s), but her warnings were ignored and some 200 children contracted polio from a few vaccine batches; with Sarah Stewart, discovered the SE (Stewart-Eddy) polyoma virus, which was shown to cause cancerous tumors in mammals (though the discovery was initially met with wide-spread skepticism, it was eventually regarded as a major scientific breakthrough); retired at 70 (1973).