Behring’s contribution to serum therapy, tetanus vaccine and the birth of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Behring’s work has changed the treatment of bacterial infections and has explored the human immune system among generations of scientists. |Picture source: Wikimedia, CreativeCommons

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), serum therapy has laid the foundation for passive immunity and has greatly influenced the development of vaccines and other biological therapeutic agents. Emil Adolf von’s work over a century ago continued to have a lasting impact on modern medicine.

An overview of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Emil Adolf von Behring, German physiologist Born on March 15, 1854, with a historic title, he was the first to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He received this honor at the 1901 Nobel Prize, marking a critical moment in the history of medicine.

Behring was born in Hansdorf, a small village in Prussia (now part of Poland), the principal’s father and one of thirteen children. Despite financial difficulties, he conducted medical research through military medical programs, which forced him to serve in the military after graduation. This path laid the foundation for his meticulous and disciplined scientific research.

He eventually worked at the Institute of Infectious Diseases in Berlin, where he crossed the path with the renowned bacterologist Robert Koch. Under Koch’s guidance, Behring

What was his pioneering contribution?

Behring’s revolutionary contribution to medicine was his discovery of serum therapy as a treatment for diphtheria, a highly infectious, often fatal disease that affects children in particular. In the late 19th century, diphtheria was known as the “strangered child angel” due to thick membranes in the throat, resulting in suffocation and death.

The science behind serum therapy is based on the principle of passive immunity. Behing and his collaborator, Japanese physician Shibasaburo Kitasato, conducted experiments in which animals (mainly guinea pigs and horses) were injected with weak strains of their diphtheria bacteria or their toxins. These animals develop specific defense substances in the blood, called antitoxins. These antitoxins can then be extracted and injected into other animals – ultimately, humans without their own immune response.

What makes this work revolutionary is that it introduces a treatment for infections, not just to stop them. While vaccines like Edward Jenner developed (for smallpox) are trained by training the body’s immune system, Bellin’s serum can help people who are already infected. During an outbreak, life can be saved in real time for the first time.

This marks the beginning of immunotherapy and the use of antibodies as medical care, laying the foundation for many modern advances, including monoclonal antibodies and immunotherapy used in cancer treatment today.

The Nobel Prize is here

In 1901, Emil von Behring was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for what the Nobel Committee described as “his work in serum therapy, especially in the application of diphtheria.” His discovery comes at a time when the diphtheria outbreak claimed to have claimed thousands of young lives in Europe and the United States.

What makes the award particularly important is not only the scientific merits he discovers, but also its direct real-life impact. The hospital that started using his serum therapy resulted in a sharp drop in mortality. In some cases, the mortality rate of diphtheria children has dropped from 50% to less than 10%. This seems like a miracle to the public. For the scientific world, this is the victory of laboratory science, applied to human suffering.

Belling became an international hero. The media called him a “child savior”, and European governments and medical institutions celebrated him. Later, he was attracted by the German Emperor Wilhelm II and won the title of “von” to become Emil von Behring.

What is his legacy today?

In addition to his Nobel Prize-winning work, Belling is committed to developing serum for tetanus, another deadly disease that was once common among soldiers during wartime. Despite less publicity than his diphtheria breakthrough, the work is equally important, especially during World War I.

An interesting and little-known fact about Belling is that he helped establish one of Germany’s earliest biopharmaceutical companies. His company Behringwerke became the main producer of vaccines and serum therapy, and later included the global pharmaceutical giant Bayer. Since then, his home in Marlborough, Germany has been converted into a museum celebrating his scientific heritage.

Emil von Behring died on March 31, 1917, but the methods he pioneered remain essential in modern medicine. His concept of using antibodies to treat diseases, which he proposed more than a century ago, is now used to fight cancer, autoimmune diseases, and even Covid-19.