Fact #93058

David Vetter, a child known to be suffering from a rare life-threatening genetic disease [severe combined immune deficiency syndrome (SCID)], is born in Houston, Texas, USA. Less than ten seconds after being removed from his mother's womb, David is placed into a plastic germ-free environment which will be his home for most of the twelve years of his life. He will become internationally-famous as The Boy In The Bubble, and the phrase will inspire the title of a 1986 Paul Simon song to indicate the many and varied ways in which science interacts with contemporary society.