The modern anti-vax movement really began with a brilliant scientific discovery that led to an interesting idea. And then it all went downhill. It started with ulcers. For years, they were known to be caused by excess stomach acid, drinking, smoking, bad diet, genetics, until two Australians rocked the GI world. They proved that it was actually caused by a small bacteria called H. Pylori that is found in the gut. And it could be treated by a simple antibiotic. This discovery was published in 1984 in the prestigious journal The Lancet, and it eventually earned them the Nobel Prize. Fast forward three years, where junior research doctor Andrew Wakefield is sitting in a downtown Toronto bar on a freezing winter night. And as I'm sure we all do in such situations, he was contemplating inflammatory bowel disease. Specifically, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's. Staring into his frothy pint of Guinness, Wakefield had an idea. What if, like ulcers, Crohn's was also caused by a gut pathogen, in this case a virus, a bold idea, and if he could prove it, a paved path to prominence. He and five other researchers used an electron microscope to scan gut samples from Crohn's patients. They showed evidence of inflammation, blockages, and tissue death, earning them a coveted research publication spot in The Lancet, a taste of fame, and funding. But now he had to prove that all of this gut damage was caused by a virus, and that's where things start to go downhill. Eventually leading to this paper that was one of the biggest crimes against science in known history. Follow for Part 2.
Additional notes
Replying to @Avisha - 🧬Science Made Simple I first recorded this 7-part series back in 2022, but never ended up finishing editing the landscape-oriented YT video. It’s sad that this has once again become extremely relevant, as certain individuals featuring very prominently in today’s new cycle are some of the most prominent propagators of this myth. They often couch their statements in qualifiers like “oh i’m not ANTI vaccinations, I just think that they all need more testing to show that they don’t cause autism.” But the ENTIRE REASON why those two concepts are even linked has no foundation in legitimate science, so any statements that give the link any level of credence by someone in a clear position to know better should be taken as an IMMEDIATE RED FLAG 🚩 I’ll be uploading this entire series today, and hopefully get the longer YT vid up this week. Much of the original legwork for this series was done by Brian Deer for his book "The Doctor Who Fooled the World,” but I went back and read each of his cited sources, all of the research papers, more from my own research, and even the court proceedings where Wakefield’s medical license was revoked. #vaccines #autism #science #learnontiktok #whofides #edutok
References
- Source named in caption: Brian Deer, The Doctor Who Fooled the World. No direct DOI, PMID, or source URL was listed in the workbook row.
- Source category named in caption: court proceedings where Andrew Wakefield's medical license was revoked. No direct source URL was listed in the workbook row.
- Source named in transcript: 1984 Lancet paper on Helicobacter pylori and ulcers; no DOI/source URL was listed in the workbook row.