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Show Lend A Hand ! Research fttakes New Polio Gain Significant advances have been made recently in the fight against infantile paralysis, it was disclosed today in a report on research activities from headquarters head-quarters of the National Foundation Foun-dation for Infantile Paralysis, made public by Mrs. Harold Dillman, director of the Duchesne Du-chesne County March of Dimes. Mrs. Dillman said the report described the recent discovery that polio virus can be grown in test-tubes containing non-ner-vous tissue as one that "might have many Important applications." I Growing virus in test-tubes, I according to the report, has pro-ivided pro-ivided a way for rapidly ascertaining ascer-taining the effects of various chemicals and drugs in halting the growth of the virus, and might speed the search for a "magic bullet" to stop polio. ! The March of Dimes campaign director stressed the importance impor-tance of the National Foundation's Founda-tion's "polio virus typing program." pro-gram." She explained that in recent years scientists have demonstrated dem-onstrated that human polio can be caused by at least three groups of polio viruses. "Each of these three groups," it was reported, "produces the same clinical symptoms, but each is immunologically independent, inde-pendent, and infection by a j virus of one group wlil not I lead to resistance against any I virus of the other groups." i Mrs. Dillman said the Na-! Na-! tional Foundation considered I this project of such importance that two years ago it allocated '$1,370,160 in March of Dimes I funds to finance the study1. Scientists at several of the nation's na-tion's leading universities, he added, are trying to determine the exact number of viruses capable of producing polio, "By the end of 1951," the report re-port promised, "we should know whether there are more than , the three groups already identified." iden-tified." ) According to the March of i Dimes campaign director, recent i investigations have been made to determine the factors that might change a harmeless polio infection into the severe clinical clin-ical disease with paralytic symptoms. symp-toms. The report stated that studies indicate the polio virus to be widespread, but the majority ma-jority of children and adults can harbor the virus in their bodies without harm to themselves. them-selves. Only relatively few persons, per-sons, the report went on. develop de-velop the clinical form of the disease with severe symptoms. A major scientific question is why this benign infection in many becomes the paralytic disease in just a few. |