title: [The Donath-Landsteiner hemolysin. The origin of a myth in 20th century medicine].
abstract: In the present paper is pointed out that J. Donath and K. L. Landsteiner on no account discovered (as most of modern immunologists are pretending emphatically) the autohemolysin which is still connected with their names; neither can this discovery be attributed to Paul Ehrlich as some modern authors are confirming. The later publications of Donath and Landsteiner following their first famous paper from 1904 which hitherto never was drawn attention to by historians or immunologists clearly demonstrate that both of them thought of a toxin theory in regard to the pathogenesis of paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria, and yet in 1925 they explicitly denied any kind of immune reaction or autoimmunization being involved in the pathogenesis of this disease. The myth of their supposed discovery was performed by well-known and highly estimated scientists in the field of research in autoimmunity problems based on the psychological well-known motivation to create pioneers and heroes that mark the starting point of their science.
mesh_terms: D000486:Allergy and Immunology / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D006457:Hemoglobinuria, Paroxysmal / Q000266:history; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D049673:History, 20th Century
chemical_list: D006460:Hemolysin Proteins
vernacular_title: Das Donath-Landsteiner-Hämolysin. Die Entstehung eines Mythos in der Medizin des 20. Jahrhunderts.