Armed with promises of financial support, 27 acres of prime building land donated by the citizens of San Diego and a strong conviction that science should be used for the good of man, Jonas Salk, an immunologist whose name became a household word when he developed the world's first polio vaccine, began in the late 1950s to plan a new venture. He wanted to establish a biological research centre dedicated “to contributing … to the health and well-being of man”. The resulting Salk Institute for Biological Studies, now 11 years old, is a remarkable place. Colin Norman reports.
