Google Doodle celebrates the inventor of surgical masks on his 142nd birthday

In its latest homepage Doodle, Google celebrates what would be the 142nd birthday of Dr. Wu Lien-teh, inventor of an early version of the multi-layered surgical mask we have all come to rely on.

Born on March 10, 1879 to a Chinese-Malaysian family in Penang, Malaya, Wu was the first Chinese student to receive a medical degree from Cambridge University. In 1908, he was appointed vice director for China's Imperial Army Medical College, overseeing medical training for military personnel. Wu was also tasked with investigating the 1911 Manchurian plague, an epidemic that killed 60,000 people.

Wu discovered quickly that the disease was spread through respiratory transmission. He constructed an extra-protective surgical mask with layers of cotton and gauze, and advised members of the public as well as medical professionals to adopt the protective mask. According to a Google blog post about the Doodle launch, Wu also "worked with government officials to establish quarantine stations and hospitals, restrict travel, and apply progressive sterilization techniques."

Wu was able to contain the disease's spread in just four months.

Google worked with Wu's family, including his great-granddaughters Dr. Shan Woo Liu and Ling Woo Liu, to document their great-grandfather's legacy. Speaking to Google about her family history, Dr. Liu said that Wu impacted her own career aspirations. "Growing up, we heard our father’s stories about our great-grandfather — that he was famous for controlling the Manchurian pneumonic plague, a disease that was deadly for nearly everyone who contracted it," she said. "His story stirred something in me, and from an early age, I dreamed of becoming a doctor... Today, as an emergency physician treating COVID-19 patients, I appreciate his bravery all the more."

Wu in 1901. Credit: Dr. Shan Woo Liu and Ling Woo Liu/ google

Wu went on to found the Chinese Medical Association in 1915 and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1935 for his work containing the epidemic in China.

As a medical professional, Liu says she has seen the effect of her great-grandfather's work firsthand. "I also feel closer to him than ever as I urge my patients to practice social distancing and to wear a mask, the very techniques he pioneered as he rescued China, and possibly the world, from a scourge," Liu said. "Wu Lien-teh remains as much of a hero now as he was then."

Dr. Wu's celebratory Doodle is also accompanied by COVID-19 resources and safety recommendations, compiled by Google.