Unsung Hero Robert C. Gallo

2009/01/08 by Giovanni Abbadessa, Roberto S. Accolla, F Aiuti +96 · 1 citation
Immunology and Microbiology · Medicine · Psychology · #T-cell and Retrovirus Studies #HIV Research and Treatment #Immune Cell Function and Interaction #HERO #Harm #Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) #Do no harm #Virology #History #Environmental ethics #Medicine #Philosophy #Art #Criminology #Political science #Psychology #Law #Literature

paper · doi:10.1126/science.323.5911.206

openalex publication_date 2009/01/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Awarding the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine to Francoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for the discovery of HIV-1, the causative agent of AIDS (1), is timely given the harm that the virus continues to inflict on the people of the world.
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\nWhile these awardees fully deserve the award, it is equally important to recognize the contributions of Robert C. Gallo. Gallo definitively proved HIV-1 as the cause of AIDS through the successful isolation and long-term cultivation of HIV-1 and developed a diagnostic kit that prevented new infections and saved thousands of lives. These contributions, together with Gallo's earlier discovery of interleukin-2 (fundamental for growing HIV-1 in vitro) and of HTLV-1, the first human pathogenic retrovirus, warrant equal recognition.

Citations

• Isolation of a T-Lymphotropic Retrovirus from a Patient at Risk for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

Cited by

• Nobel Prize controversies [wikipedia]

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