Eleanor Storrs
Big Idea
Cool Discoveries
Education
Employment
Would you have guessed that Storrs...
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Big Idea
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Leprosy research was handicapped for many years because scientists could not find an animal model to study the disease. Eleanor Storrs proposed that the nine-banded armadillo might be the sought-after model because of its low body temperature, longevity, and susceptibility to human diseases.
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Cool Discoveries
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The nine-banded armadillo proved to be one of the few animals in which leprosy bacilli would multiply. When Storrs inoculated the armadillos with human tissue, the animals regularly contracted the most virulent form of the disease. As a result, the armadillo became an excellent model for testing drugs against leprosy and an important source for the production of bacilli for vaccines.
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Education
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- Graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1948
- Received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas
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Employment
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- Worked at the Gulf South Research Institute from 1967 to 1977
- Worked at Florida Institute of Technology
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Would you have guessed that Storrs...
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- Kept an armadillo as a pet long before she realized its potential for leprosy research.
- Was Crowned “Mardi Gras” Queen in 1974.
- Published an article in National Geographic Magazine in 1982 entitled “The Astonishing Armadillo.”
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References
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- Storrs, E. E. 1971. The nine-banded armadillo: a model for leprosy and other medical research Int. J. Lepr. 39:703-14.
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