In recent years, toymaker Mattel has responded to criticism about the Barbie doll's role in creating an unrealistic picture of womanhood. The company now designs dolls inspired by professions as diverse as a firefighter, doctor, and astronaut - and in a range of skin tones beyond its original white, blonde doll that first launched in 1959.
Toymaker Mattel, which produces the famous Barbie doll, has created a doll of the scientist who designed the Oxford coronavirus vaccine, Prof Dame Sarah Gilbert. The doll designed to honor Gilbert is one of six to honor women working in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).
Gilbert told the media she found it "very strange" at first, but hopes the doll will be an inspiration to the children; "I hope my doll will show children careers they may not be aware of, like a vaccinologist," she said. "I am passionate about inspiring the next generation of girls to pursue STEM careers and I hope that children who see my Barbie will realize how important scientific careers are in helping the world around us," she added.
Gilbert chose the nonprofit organization WISE (Women in Science & Engineering), dedicated to inspiring girls to consider a career in STEM, to receive a financial donation from the toymaker.
The discoverer of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Sarah Gilbert, 59, is said by one of the English magazines that interviewed her recently that she has a very competent behavior that you should expect from someone about to achieve a breakthrough, and that she has no minute to waste.
Recently, Gilbert was feted in Wimbledon where she was seated on the seat reserved for the Queen of Britain to watch the most prestigious game in the world to a scientist who dedicated her life to science, the audience standing in respect applauded for five minutes, much more than the applause received by the game's stars themselves.
Gilbert, a recipient of a Royal Medal was honored on Queen Elizabeth's birthday and began work on developing a coronavirus vaccine in early 2020 when COVID-19 first appeared in China. The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is now the most widely used vaccine in the world, and doses have been sent to more than 170 countries.
Years ago, when Gilbert was preparing for her Ph.D., she considered giving up science altogether. As a young student in the Department of Biology at the University of East Anglia, she was motivated by the diversity of ideas and experience she had in her science department.
However, after applying to study for a doctorate at the University of Hull, she discovered that she did not like to focus on a narrow entry into a specific scientific field in her studies and that she was more inclined to open up to various fields of knowledge and ideas.
Gilbert passed her exams at Kettering High School and was skillfully playing a woodwind instrument for the school's orchestra. She then moved to the University of East Anglia to complete her Bachelor's degree, after which she received a Ph.D. from the University of Hull, and despite her superiority, she refused the academic work and instead chose to work at Leicester Biocentre for the first two years of her career, she then moved to a biotechnology company, Delta, where she gained experience manufacturing pharmaceuticals.
In April 2020, her triplets decided, even though they are young, 21 years old, and all of them study biochemistry, to participate in the trial of the experimental vaccine against Covid-19.
For the past ten years, she has dedicated her life to manufacturing and testing vaccines that were manufactured to induce immune T-cell responses, using antigens from Malaria and influenza. Many of these vaccines have passed clinical trials, however, that was not the ceiling of her dream, when she initially returned to academia, according to a report in The Telegraph.
Her goal was to study human genetics, but during that study, she discovered “the role of a certain type of immune response in protecting against malaria.” So, Gilbert decided to make a vaccine that “works through this type of immune response,” and the passion for vaccines began.
For coronaviruses, Gilbert used chimpanzee viruses (the common cold virus) along with genetic material from the high protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that would prompt the immune system to fight the virus. In early trials, the vaccine stimulated antibodies as well as T-type white blood cells, which will cause the immune system to destroy the virus that causes Covid-19.
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