Abstract
The 100th Anniversary of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1919 awarded to Jules Bordet offers the opportunity to underline the contributions of this Belgian doctor to the blooming of immunology at the end of the nineteenth century at the Institut Pasteur de Paris. It is also the occasion to emphasize his achievements as director of the Institut Pasteur du Brabant and professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles. Both in France and Belgium, he developed a holistic vision of immunology as a science at the crossroads of chemistry, physiology, and microbiology.
Highlights
The discovery of vaccination by Edward Jenner (1749–1823) at the end of the eighteen century was the first evidence for the existence of an immune system, immunology as a science only emerged more than one century later as a reflection of the host response to bacterial infections and bacterial toxins [1] with the pioneering works of Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915), Ilya Ilitch Metchnikoff (1845–1916), Emil von Behring (1854–1917), and Jules Bordet (1870–1961) [2, 3]
We review the genesis of his major discoveries and conclude on Jules Bordet’s legacy as a source of inspiration for future immunologists
On October, 28th, 1920, Jules Bordet was awarded with the 1919 Nobel prize, “for his discoveries relating to immunity,” namely his work on the complement system
Summary
The discovery of vaccination by Edward Jenner (1749–1823) at the end of the eighteen century was the first evidence for the existence of an immune system, immunology as a science only emerged more than one century later as a reflection of the host response to bacterial infections and bacterial toxins [1] with the pioneering works of Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915), Ilya Ilitch Metchnikoff (1845–1916), Emil von Behring (1854–1917), and Jules Bordet (1870–1961) [2, 3]. On October, 28th, 1920, Jules Bordet was awarded with the 1919 Nobel prize, “for his discoveries relating to immunity,” namely his work on the complement system. He deciphered the mechanisms of the bacteriolytic activity of immune serum obtained in animals immunized with bacteria, and the hemolysis capacity of anti-red blood cell immune sera. It is in the same laboratory that he studied the mechanisms by which the virulence of Vibrio metchnikovii increased after serial passages in immunized guinea-pigs He concluded from these experiments that the increased virulence was consecutive to a reduced toxicity and a reduced chemotactism. After a 1 year clinical experience in a hospital on the North Sea coast, he moved to the Institut Pasteur de Paris thanks to a travel award from the Belgian Government
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