Cornell University – BioQuakes

Jessie Isabelle Price (1930-2015)

Dr Jessie Price, a black female veterinary microbiologist who changed the veterinary field for the better.

Dr. Price’s Path to Success: Academic Life

Born January 1, 1930, Dr. Jessie Price lived in Montrose Pennsylvania with her mother Teresa. Teresa Price was a huge motivator for her daughter’s success and pushed her daughter to flourish academically. As an adolescent, Dr. Jessie Price attended surrounding public schools, all were predominantly white. During this time, it was typical for graduates to jump into a career to support their families, however Teresa Price valued academics greatly and supported her daughter’s notable academic talent. Dr. Price attended the College of Agriculture at Cornell University, where her tuition was covered by her resident status, as she spent a year in Ithaca taking more classes at a nearby high school after graduation. Her goal to attend medical school was not met due to financial costs, however, she found her passion in microbiology. In 1953 she earned her bachelors degree in microbiology, then returned to receive her masters degree in veterinary bacteriology, pathology, and parasitology in 1956. in 1959, the same year she received her masters degree, she earned her Ph.D after completing her dissertation, “Studies on Pasteurella anatipestifer Infection in white Pekin Ducklings” published by the Journal of Avian Diseases. Dr. Price’s research career officially began in 1959 as she worked at the Cornell University Duck Research Laboratory.

Her Research

While working as a research specialist at the Cornell University Duck Research Laboratory, Dr. Jessie Price “focused on the identification and controlling bacterial diseases in commercial white Pekin ducklings” (Quintard Taylor). All of her hard work and focus lead to her discovery of how to recreate the disease in these ducks and create a vaccine against it.

Pasteurella Anatipestifer and the Vaccine

At this time around “10%-30% of the duckling population was lost in the first 8 weeks of their lives due to disease” (poc2.co.uk), this meant an extreme loss of money in the poultry farming business. Dr. Jessie Price found Pasteurella anatipestifer in the ill ducks she researched which caused the life threatening respiratory issues in the animals. Other symptoms include tremors and discolored diarrhea. Pasteurella anatipestifer is a septicaemic disease, meaning a pre-existing bacterial infection enters the blood stream and is highly transmittable. Dr. Jessie Price began the process of research by obtaining fluid from the duck’s cranium. This fluid was then kept in a glass container and stored in order to be used as a study subject. “Duck broth” is then stored and examined for experimental culture. This research led to the discovery of the Riemerella Anatipestifer vaccince, one of the many vaccines that derived from this research, which works to prevent R. anatipestifer infection at early stages in the ducks life (when they are most susceptible to infection).

Ultimately Dr. Price’s research saved the poultry industry and the hundreds of thousands of dollars lost due to poultry death. She passed away in 2015 and Cornell University includes more information on the disease in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The Incredible Work of Veterinary Microbiologist Jessie Price aka “Duck Doctor”

By organellas

On March 7, 2021

In Student Post

Dr. Jessie Price is the veterinary microbiologist responsible for developing a vaccine against Pasteurella anatipestifer, a respiratory disease which killed roughly 10% to 30% of ducks annually around the 1940s. A Black woman from a poor family, she overcame many obstacles before achieving success as an acclaimed scientist. Born in the year 1930, Dr. Price was raised by a single mother in Pennsylvania. Growing up, she was one of the three Black children in the entire school. Nonetheless, she achieved excellent grades and dedicated herself to academic excellence with the encouragement of her mother and teachers. After a gap year studying in New York, Dr. Price attended Cornell University. Despite initially wanting to become a physician, financial constraints did not enable her to follow that path, so instead she decided to study veterinary microbiology. She decided to continue her education at graduate school, and in order to pay off her tuition, Dr. Price worked as a lab technician at the Poultry Disease Research Farm of the New York State Veterinary College at Cornell University. She earned her Masters in bacteriology, pathology,and parasitology, and she earned her PhD based on her research and thesis titled, “Studies on the Pasteurella anatipestifer Infection in White Pekin Ducklings.”

Dr. Price’s vaccine saved ducklings!

Along with her two assistants, Dr. Jessie Price created the vaccine for Pasteurella anatipestifer, saving the meat industry millions of dollars as well as saving the lives of innocent ducklings! In addition, through numerous autopsies and trials using vaccinations, Dr. Price identified Pasteurella multocida, Escherichia coli, and Duck hepatitis as the main culprits responsible for killing the several flocks of ducklings she was studying.

The vaccine for Pasteurella anatipestifer connects to topics learned in AP Biology because a vaccine contains the weakened or inactive fragments of an antigen which, when injected into an organism, activates the immune system, prompting it to create antibodies which aid with immunity.

Dr. Jessie Price had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. She loved bettering herself and continued studying and researching most of her life. Very sadly, Dr. Price passed away on November 12, 2015, due to Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Jessie Price’s story inspires us to work hard for our dreams and overstep limitations. She dedicated herself to uncovering solutions, reminding us the value of enjoying the process just as much as arriving at the destination.

It’s a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the trees?

By sweetasglucose

On March 15, 2012

In Student Post

I would simply NEVER get involved with business in the Mafia because I am not 100% sure I could complete my side of the bargain. ( I have seen what happens in the movie ‘The Godfather‘.) It is hard to keep promise because you never know what situation can occur, and if you do fall back on your word, how will that person handle it.

In nature, there are many contracts made between animals. In biology they are known as “mutually beneficial relationship “. Animals coexist each expecting the other to hold up their side of the arrangement. However what happens when one partner does do their share? Well in the case of the Fig tree and the Fig wasp, the wasp dies. (kinda like the mafia)

Fig trees and wasps can make up a great mutualstic relationship. The fig tree’s figs are a perfect home for the wasps to lay their eggs, and in return the wasps have to spread the tree’s pollen. A study by students at Cornell University showed that the fig tree will purposely drop the fig containing the larva, letting the die as they hit the ground, if the wasp does not spread it’s pollen. dang.

Who knew trees were so tough? Maybe whoever said “the bark is worse than it’s bite”.

The study came about when graduate student Charlotte Jandér wanted “to know what forces maintain this 80 million-year-old mutualism between figs and their wasp pollinators…What prevents the wasps from cheating and reaping the benefits of the relationship without paying the costs?” Now Charlotte knows the answer…death of their children.

Besides the 80 million-year-old relationship between fig trees and wasps, there are more than seven hundred species of fig trees and their mutullastic fig wasps. The pairings success is so remarkable it is hard to look at the fig tree’s tactic as cold or harsh, they have been together longer than humans. Maybe people will start to use more “tough love” to create a longlasting benefitial relationship.

BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: Cornell University

Dr Jessie Price: Her Impact on the World of Vaccines

The Incredible Work of Veterinary Microbiologist Jessie Price aka “Duck Doctor”

It’s a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the trees?

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