science · 31 March 1917 · 108 years ago
death
Died 31 Mar 1917 at age 63 (born 15 Mar 1854).
Emil Adolf von Behring was a German bacteriologist who is considered the founder of the science of immunology. He received in 1901 the first Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria. In 1890, working with S. Kitasato, he discovered that immunity against tetanus and diphtheria could be produced by injecting serum from an animal that had recovered from the disease. He coined the word antitoxin for such substances. They also showed that the antitoxins thus produced by one animal could immunize another animal and that it could cure an animal actually showing symptoms of diphtheria. This great discovery was soon confirmed and successfully used by other workers.
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