Johan Hultin

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Johan Hultin
Born(1924-10-07)October 7, 1924
1918 influenza virus

Johan Hultin (October 7, 1924 – January 22, 2022) was a Swedish-born American

1918 influenza virus
that killed millions worldwide.

Life and career

Hultin was born into a wealthy family in

Mustagh Ata in China.[3] Hultin was also a builder. He constructed a log cabin in Bear Valley, California, that is a replica of Vastveitloftet, a 1355 A.D. loft house from Norway.[2]

Hultin was awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of Iowa in 2000.[5] In 2009, the University of Iowa awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science.[6]

1918 influenza discovery

The Hultin couple had some experience with permafrost excavation after assisting at an Alaska dig site under the supervision of

Otto Geist in the summer of 1949.[1] In 1951, Johan Hultin tried to isolate the 1918 influenza virus from victims who had been buried in the Alaskan permafrost of a town called Brevig Mission. During the pandemic, 72 of the town's 80 residents perished from the flu. In his search, he unearthed bodies but failed to find any live viruses.[7]

Nearly 50 years later, in July 1997, Hultin read an article in the journal

obese woman, roughly thirty years old, whom he christened "Lucy". The fat had protected her lungs from decay, and he took both of them. It turned out that in Lucy's case there was enough material to sequence the complete 1918 virus many times over.[9] The first sequence from the sample was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences with Hultin as a co-author.[10] This sample provided scientists a first-hand opportunity to study the virus, which was inactivated with guanidinium thiocyanate before transport. This sample and others found in U.S. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) archives allowed researchers to completely analyze the critical gene structures of the 1918 virus.[11] Using the recovered traces, scientists revealed that the virus originated from birds and mutated to infect humans.[12]

Personal life and death

With his first wife, Gunvor (1924–2011), Hultin had four children; he and Gunvor later divorced, and, in 1985, he married English-born Eileen.[2] In 2020, they were living in Rossmoor, California.[13]

He died at his home in Walnut Creek, California, on January 22, 2022, at the age of 97.[1]

Quotations

“It is absolutely certain another pandemic will come, but we don’t know what form it will be. The question is, How can we be forewarned?” (February 2002)[2]

“There are only two things that can threaten mankind in the short term. One is an influenza virus, and the other is nuclear war.” (2020)[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Kolate, Gina (January 27, 2022). "Dr. Johan Hultin Dies at 97; His Work Helped Isolate 1918 Flu Virus". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f McKnight, Michael (May 27, 2020). "Into the Wild. Twice. For Mankind". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "The Virus detective". Archived from the original on December 18, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  4. ^ Bojs, Karin (December 23, 2005). "Svenska forskare i topp". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  5. ^ "Previous Alumni Award Recipients | Medicine Alumni". Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  6. ^ "Dr. Johan Hultin". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2022 – via Legacy.com.
  7. ^ "Villager's remains lead to 1918 flu breakthrough". Archived from the original on October 29, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  8. S2CID 8976173. Archived
    from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  9. ^ CDC (December 17, 2019). "The Discovery and Reconstruction of the 1918 Pandemic Virus". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  10. PMID 9990079
    .
  11. ^ Lethal secrets of 1918 flu virus Archived March 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine; BBC
  12. ^ "1918 flu". Archived from the original on May 5, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  13. ^ Tallyn, Cathy (June 10, 2020). "Dr. Johan Hultin is 'Indiana Jones' of scientists". Rossmoor News. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
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