Infected for Science

They weren’t willing to kill for their country, but they were willing to die for it.

During World War II, religious pacifist David Miller and a group of conscientious objectors made an extraordinary choice: they signed up for government-sponsored medical experiments that intentionally infected them with hepatitis. Their goal was simple but dangerous―help scientists understand a disease that was sickening American soldiers fighting on the front lines.

Infected for Science tells this remarkable true story through the striking artwork of Trygve Faste and Sydney Halpern’s deeply researched narrative. Drawing on archival records and the sharp, humorous cartoons Miller himself sketched, the graphic novel follows the men through grueling medical tests and the looming fear of serious illness.

What emerges is both a gripping, previously hidden history and a portrait of moral courage and conviction. The book reveals the heavy human costs of the experiments―and explores how the volunteers responded upon discovering that a group of individuals were being subjected to disease-inducing medical studies without their consent.

Sydney Halpern is a historical sociologist whose work shines a light on moral dilemmas in the conduct of medical research. She is Professor Emerita at the University of Illinois Chicago and Lecturer in Medical Education at the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.

Trygve Faste is an artist and designer whose work explores the connection between human invention and the natural world. Now Associate Professor at the University of Oregon, he teaches product design and sketching.