Abstract
The 'Australia Antigen' is found in the sera of some normal individuals from foreign populations. The total absence of the antigen from the sera of normal United States' subjects and its relatively high frequency in acute leukemia suggests that the presence of the antigen maybe of value in the diagnosis of early acute leukemia. Whether the antigen results from or precedes the leukemia process remains to be seen. (Abstract reproduced by permission of J Am Med Assoc 1965;191:541 - 546.) Many of the major discoveries in science have been the product of chance observations that were pursued by the curious mind to their plausible and provable explanation. Mendel's peas and, at least apocryphally, Newton's apple, come to mind as paradigm shifting observations that respectively opened the fields of genetics and established the laws of gravitation. Fleming's chance observation of the inhibition of bacterial growth in the presence of bread mold ultimately produced the first antibiotic. The unexpected link between the Australia antigen and the hepatitis B virus may be less encompassing than genetics or gravitation, but nonetheless is a classic example of a serendipitous observation pursued to major unexpected payoffs, including the prevention of post-transfusion hepatitis, the development of a vaccine, the prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma and laying the foundation for
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