Diphtheria toxin
Toxina diftérica
- Date
- 1888 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Pierre-Paul Émile Roux and Alexandre Yersin (1888); the diphtheria toxoid vaccine was a later achievement of Alexander Thomas Glenny in London (1920s)
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
First identified bacterial exotoxin, secreted by Corynebacterium diphtheriae and responsible for diphtheria's symptoms by inhibiting protein synthesis in cells; demonstrated using bacteria-free filtrates.
What it led to
- Development of the antitoxin serum that saved thousands of children with diphtheria
- Formulation of the diphtheria toxoid vaccine (Glenny, 1920s)
- Establishing the concept of bacterial exotoxin in microbiology