Elie Metchnikoff's and Paul Ehrlich's impact on infection biology.
The 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize for Medicine to Paul Ehrlich and Elie Metchnikoff gives us a good opportunity to reflect on their research about infectious diseases. Elie Metchnikoff was not only the first to describe phagocytosis of invading pathogens by specialized blood cells - macrophages and neutrophils - he also was interested in the impact of normal flora on well-being and in pre- and probiotic diet and their influence on the normal flora. Paul Ehrlich not only developed the concept of the side-chain theory of antibody formation but also discovered the first chemotherapeutic agent against microbial pathogens through a combination of chemical modification of a lead substance and experimental animal screening on a broad-scale. Hence, they are not only the founders of immunology but also were the first to envisage infection biology as the result of an interplay between host and pathogen.
Kaufmann
Stefan H E
SH
Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Department of Immunology, Charitéplatz 1, D-10117 Berlin, Germany. kaufmann@mpiib-berlin.mpg.de
D000486:Allergy and Immunology / Q000266:history*; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000266:history* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000266:history* / Q000276:immunology; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents