Karl Landsteiner, MD

Abstract

Karl Landsteiner (1868–1943) Karl Landsteiner, born June 14, 1868, in Vienna, Austria, was the only child of Fanny Hess and Leopold Landsteiner. Even as a child, Dr. Landsteiner displayed an extraordinary aptitude for academics. Dr. Landsteiner completed primary school and the first part of secondary school before attending the Staatsgymnasium in Linz in 1880 as an honors student. Here he developed his burgeoning interest in mathematics and the natural sciences.1 He subsequently attended the University of Vienna, starting in 1885, where he studied under several of the prominent scientists in the fields of anatomy, zoology, hematological chemistry, and organic chemistry. His early experimental work in chemistry foretold of his subsequent interest and achievement in the field of serology. In 1891, Dr. Landsteiner completed his medical degree and began his work in the laboratory of the medical clinic where he studied multiple myeloma (cancer of the cells secreting antibodies). He spent the next 5 years in the laboratories of Hantzsch at Zurich, Emil Fischer at Wurzburg, and E. Bamberger at Munich, publishing on a number of topics investigating the interface between chemistry and biology by focusing on antigen–antibody reactions.2,3,4 In 1896, Dr. Landsteiner returned to Vienna to resume his studies at the Vienna General Hospital as assistant to Dr. Max von Gruber at the Institute of Hygiene at Vienna. Dr. Gruber was known for his discovery of the serological test for typhoid. Dr. Landsteiner was fascinated by the Gruber-Widal reaction, which provided evidence for the serological differentiation between typhoid and non-typhoid bacilli. He believed this differentiation reflected particular chemical differences between the bacilli recognized by antibodies. Under Dr. Gruber, Dr. Landsteiner’s interest in the mechanisms of immunity and in the nature of antibodies intensified, and Dr. Landsteiner published his first papers on agglutination and immunology. …