Jonas Edward Salk. The American microbiologist Jonas Edward Salk (b.1914). In the 40s, other microbiologists such as the American Enders had developed new techniques to produce cultures of polio virus in quantities adequate for experimentation. This enabled Salk to obtain in 1952 a vaccine which he tried with success on children who had recovered from polio. He then tried it, again with success, on children without a history of polio and by 1955 the vaccine was prepared for worldwide distribution. Together with the vaccine obtained by the American microbiologist Sabin in 1957, the incidence of poliomyelitis was reduced by the end of the 1960s.