Although polio vaccines were developed by Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, it was John Enders who pioneered research on the cultivation of polio and other viruses. Working with two other virologists, Enders discovered a way to grow the poliovirus on skin tissue, a method that was later used by Sabin to develop an oral live-virus vaccine for polio. On this date in 1949, Enders reported the culturing of the virus in Science. In recognition of his contribution to virology, Enders was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1954. One of his colleagues, John Gordon, remarked that Enders "has a green thumb for growing viruses." In 1962, using a live culture of the virus, he used the same methods to develop a measles vaccine.

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