Researched
Antibodies and serum therapy
In 1890 Behring and Kitasato showed that serum from immunised animals protects others from tetanus and diphtheria toxins, opening the science of antibodies.
Open in the interactive tree →Emil von Behring received the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901 for serum therapy against diphtheria; Kitasato was nominated but not awarded. Antitoxin sera were among the first treatments made from immune blood.
Prerequisites
- Germ theory1861
Unlocks
- Blood groups and transfusion1901Landsteiner found blood groups by mixing one person's serum with another's red cells
- Monoclonal antibodies1975Lab-made antibodies build on the antibody science that began with serum therapy
- Checkpoint Immunotherapy2014–2018Checkpoint drugs are antibodies, a medicine type that began with antibody sera
Sources
More in Medicine · Industrial Age
- Smallpox inoculation1721
- Vaccination1796
- Stethoscope1816
- Anesthesia1846
- Epidemiology1854
- Sewers and clean water1858
- Germ theory1861
- Hygiene and antisepsis1867