Antitoxins and serum therapy
Antitoxinas e inmunidad humoral (sueroterapia)
- Date
- 1890 · confidence high
- Place
- Institute for Infectious Diseases, Berlin, Germany
- Credited to
- Emil von Behring and Kitasato Shibasaburō
- People
- 👤 Emil Adolf von Behring1854–1917👤 Kitasato Shibasaburō1853–1931
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Serum from animals immunised against diphtheria or tetanus toxin protected other animals: immunity resides in soluble substances in the blood (antibodies). The first effective treatment for an infectious disease.
Behring received the first Nobel Prize in Medicine (1901); Kitasato was omitted.
What it led to
- humoral immunology
- antisera and antivenoms
- the DTP vaccine
- Ehrlich's side-chain theory
- monoclonal antibodies
Built on
- Diphtheria toxin1888
- phagocytosis (Metchnikoff, 1882)
Made possible
- serum therapy
- standardisation of biological drugs