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Lessons from Biomedical Innovation during World War II
Author(s) -
CookDeegan Robert
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
hastings center report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-146X
pISSN - 0093-0334
DOI - 10.1002/hast.1280
Subject(s) - general partnership , government (linguistics) , world war ii , politics , covid-19 , political science , public administration , first world war , law , medicine , humanities , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , philosophy , linguistics , pathology
Abstract The United States developed penicillin and vaccines during World War II. The partnership of government, industry, and academe was crucial. In an essay, Vannevar Bush credited that partnership with the technological achievements that led to winning the war. The policies used to address the Covid‐19 pandemic closely resemble how penicillin was developed, and similarly produced spectacular success in the form of RNA‐based vaccines. But will today's politics of hyperpartisan vitriol and credit‐mongering that pit industry against government and academe prevent carrying that success into the postpandemic era?