Figure 31.4 The Discovery of Specific Immunity
In this ground-breaking study, Behring and Kitasato demonstrated for the first time that factors, now known as antibodies, are produced in blood serum, and these factors are responsible for immunity against a specific disease. Working with tetanus and diphtheria, nonlethal doses of the toxin were injected into rabbits or guinea pigs. When a lethal dose was then injected days later, the previously exposed individuals remained healthy, whereas control individuals without previous exposure to the toxin became sick and died. Further, the most important discovery was that serum from the immune individuals could then instill immunity in individuals that had never been exposed to the toxin. The researchers demonstrated what is now known as passive immunity by taking serum from immune individuals and then injecting the serum into unexposed individuals. When these individuals were then exposed to lethal doses of toxin they remained healthy, whereas control individuals who had not received the serum died. The researchers also demonstrated that these serum factors were specific, such that they provided immunity for one specific type of toxin. This work paved the way for the development of vaccinations against specific diseases by inducing antibody production. The very first Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded to Behring for this important contribution to science.
Original Papers
Behring, E. 1890. Untersuchungen ueber das Zustandekommen der Diphtherie-Immunitat bei Thieren. Dt. Med. Wochenschr. 16: 1145–1148. In Milestones in Microbiology: 1556 to 1940, translated and edited by Thomas D. Brock, ASM Press; 1998, p. 141.
https://archive.org/stream/MilestonesInMicrobiology/Brock-MilestonesInMicrobiology#page/n3/mode/2up
Links
Emil Adolf von Behring: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1901
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1901/index.html
Emil von Behring: The Founder of Serum Therapy
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1901/behring-article.html
Winau, F., and R. Winau. 2002. Emil von Behring and serum therapy. Microbes and Infection 4: 185–188.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1286-4579(01)01526-X
American Society for Microbiology: Significant Events in Microbiology 1861–1999
http://www.asm.org/index.php/choma3/71-membership/archives/7852-significant-events-in-microbiology-since-1861#Year1882
Kimball’s Biology Pages: Passive Immunity
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Passive_Immunity.html
Kimball’s Biology Pages: Active Immunization or Vaccination
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/V/Vaccines.html
NCBI: Medical Microbiology: Chapter 8: Specific Acquired Immunity
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8143/
MicrobiologyBytes: Innate and Acquired Immunity
http://www.microbiologybytes.com/iandi/1b.html