Dr Michiaki Takahashi Google Doodle honours chickenpox vaccine inventor

US-based search engine Google paid tributes to the inventor of anti-Chickenpox vaccine and Japanese virologist Dr Michiaki Takahashi in today’s Google Doodle. The doodle, created by Tatsuro Kiuchi, charts the Dr Takahashi’s journey from researching on Chickenpox vaccine to administering the vaccine to millions of children around the globe. Towards the end of the doodle, it is shown that the vaccine developed by Dr Takahashi has played an instrumental role in lowering the Chickenpox graph globally.
 
So, who is Dr Michiaki Takahashi, the hero of today’s Google Doodle? Dr Takahashi was born on February 17, 1928 in Japan’s Osaka and he earned his medical degree from the Osaka University and joined the Osaka University’s Research Institute for Microbial Disease in 1959. After studying the viruses that cause polio and measles thoroughly, he accepted a research fellowship in US’ Baylor College in 1963.
 
During his stint at Baylor College, Dr Takahashi’s son had a serious bout of chickenpox, prompting him to leverage his expertise to combat the disease. In 1965, Dr Takahashi returned back to Japan and began culturing live but weakened chickenpox viruses in animal and human tissue. The first vaccine targeting the chickenpox causing virus – varicella-- was ready for trials just after five years of development.
 
Following this, the vaccine was subjected to research with immunosuppressed patients and it proved to be effective. In 1986, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the only varicella vaccine and the Research Foundation for Microbial Diseases at the Osaka University began the rollout in Japan. The anti-Chickenpox vaccine was used in more than 80 countries after this.
 
Dr Takahashi was appointed as the director of Osaka University’s Microbial Disease Study Group in 1994. He held this position until retirement. Kiuchi believes that through this doodle, people will know that “vaccines might help overcome a disease and change the world.”

Also read: 'Get vaccinated': Today's Google Doodle urges people to take COVID-19 vaccine

Also read: Stephen Hawking's 80th Birthday: Google honours physicist with special doodle

Also read: Google doodle celebrates Prof Udupi Ramachandra Rao's legacy on 89th birthday