Hepatitis B: Dr. Baruch Blumberg: a great scientist and a great man

It would be an inexcusable omission if I do not mention Dr. Baruch Blumberg while talking about hepatitis B.  He discovered Australia antigen, later proved to be hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), the origin of hepatitis B infection in mid-1960s, leading to the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1976.

Blumbergs celebrating Nobel Prize in 1976

Dr. Baruch Blumberg died on April 5, 2011 (a Tuesday), we read NY Times obituary next day, but LA Times obituary showed up three days later (April 8).  The delay is embarrassing either uninformed or unprepared.  Blumberg is not household name; it took even LA Times three days to come up with an obituary.

Blumberg was a towering figure in medicine, whose study on polymorphism led to the discovery of Australia Antigen (hepatitis B virus).  He helped develop the test to detect the HbsAg to ensure the safety of blood transfusion; he also developed the first hepatitis B vaccine (first used in Taiwan)—truly the first cancer vaccine as preventing hepatitis B also prevents liver cancer.

The detailed story of how the genetic polymorphism research led to the discovery of hepatitis B surface antigen is beyond the scope of this writing.  Dr. Blumberg noticed that a hemophilic patient whose blood reacted with a stuff in the blood of an Australian aborigine; the “stuff” was then called Australia antigen.

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Dr. Barusch Blumberg

r. Blumberg and his team observed that there was a high prevalence of positive Australia antigen among the institutionalized Down syndrome patients.  They documented a mentally retarded patient, James Bair, who developed hepatitis when his Australia antigen turned from negative to positive, strongly suggested hepatitis (it was then called serum hepatitis) is infectious and Australia antigen is the culprit.

James Bair’s parents allowed, in fact, encouraged Dr. Blumberg to use his real name, as they’re pleased their son had played an important role in the discovery of hepatitis B virus and infection.

Dr. Blumberg wrote a paper about this finding and submitted it to the Annals of Internal Medicine (the official publication of the American College of Physicians to which both Dr. Blumberg and I belong.  I on purposely put Dr. Blumberg and I in the same sentence, how about that :- ); the paper was rejected as it was felt this was just one of the many claims that HBV had been found.  The Annals editor later admitted the rejection was the biggest blunder the journal had made.

The term ‘serendipity” has been used in describing this story, implying “fortunate happening” and “pleasant surprise”.  But, Australia antigen and hepatitis B couldn’t be put together without Dr. Blumberg’s keen insight, relentless pursuit for the answer and intense intellectual passion.  After graduating from Columbia University Medical School, he obtained a PhD in biochemistry from Balliol College, Oxford University.  He studied physics and math before entering the medical school.

Reading his memoir (The Hunt for a killer virus Hepatitis B), I found Dr. Blumberg was such a kind and humble person.  He was as humble as James Watson was arrogant (he mellowed as he aged) and both are great scientists.

He was a co-owner of a farm in western Maryland that supplied beef for a local market. “Shoveling manure for a day is an excellent counterbalance to intellectual work,” he said.

One can only imagine how many millions of lives he saved or will save for generations to come by discovering Australia antigen (HBsAg).   His obituary in NY Times ended like this.

“Well, it is something I always wanted to do,” he said. “This is what drew me to medicine. There is, in Jewish thought, this idea that if you save a single life, you save the whole world, and that affected me.”

It may be a cliché the say many of the great scientists are Jewish.  Blumberg, Richard Feynman and Burton Richter, all came from Far Rockaway High School, a Jewish neighborhood in New York City (borough of Queens).  It is unprecedented that one high school produced 3 Nobel laureates. In fact, two were honored in 1976 (Blumberg and Richter).  Sadly Bernard Madoff was also an alumnus; sadly the school was closed in 2011.