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Timeline of immunology:








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Timeline of immunology:
  • 1718 - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
    Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

    The Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was an English people aristocrat and writer. Montagu is today chiefly remembered for her letters, particularly her letters from Turkey, which have been described by Billie Melman as ?the very first example of a secular work by a woman about the Muslim Orient?....
    , the wife of the British ambassador to Constantinople, observed the positive effects of variolation on the native population and had the technique performed on her own children.
  • 1798 - First demonstration of vaccination smallpox
    Smallpox

    Smallpox is an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning spotted, or varus, meaning "pimple"....
     vaccination
    Vaccination

    Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to produce immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by a pathogen....
     (Edward Jenner
    Edward Jenner

    Edward Jenner, Fellow of the Royal Society, was an English scientist who studied his natural surroundings in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, England....
    )
  • 1837 - First description of the role of microbes in putrefaction and fermentation (Theodore Schwann)
  • 1838 - Confirmation of the role of yeast in fermentation of sugar to alcohol (Charles Cagniard-Latour)
  • 1840 - First "modern" proposal of the germ theory of disease (Jakob Henle
    Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle

    Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle was a Germany physician, pathologist and anatomist. He is credited with the discovery of the loop of Henle in the kidney....
    )
  • 1850 - Demonstration of the contagious nature of puerperal fever (childbed fever) (Ignaz Semmelweis
    Ignaz Semmelweis

    Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis was a Hungary physician who discovered in 1847 that cases of puerperal fever, also known as childbed fever could be drastically cut if doctors Hand washing#Medical hand washing in a chlorine solution before gynaecological examinations....
    )
  • 1857-1870 - Confirmation of the role of microbes in fermentation (Louis Pasteur
    Louis Pasteur

    Louis Pasteur was a France chemist and microbiologist best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of disease. His experiments supported the germ theory of disease, also reducing mortality from puerperal fever , and he created the first vaccine for rabies....
    )
  • 1862 - phagocytosis
    Phagocytosis

    File:Phagocytosis in three steps.pngPhagocytosis is the cell process of Phagocytes and Protists of engulfing solid particles by the cell membrane to form an internal phagosome, which is a food vacuole, or pteroid....
     (Ernst Haeckel
    Ernst Haeckel

    'Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel' ,also written 'von Haeckel', was an eminent Germany biologist, natural history, philosopher, physician, professor and artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined many terms in biology, including phylum, ph...
    )
  • 1867 - First aseptic practice in surgery using carbolic acid (Joseph Lister)
  • 1876 - First demonstration that microbes can cause disease-anthrax (Robert Koch
    Robert Koch

    Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was a German physician. He became famous for isolating Bacillus anthracis , the Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the Vibrio cholerae and for his development of Koch's postulates....
    )
  • 1877 - Mast cell
    Mast cell

    A mast cell is a resident cell of several types of tissues and contains many Granule rich in histamine and heparin. Although best known for their role in allergy and anaphylaxis, mast cells play an important protective role as well, being intimately involved in wound healing and defense against pathogens....
    s (Paul Ehrlich
    Paul Ehrlich

    Paul Ehrlich was a German scientist in the fields of hematology, immunology, and chemotherapy, and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He is noted for his research in autoimmunity, calling it "horror autotoxicus"....
    )
  • 1878 - Confirmation and popularization of the germ theory of disease (Louis Pasteur
    Louis Pasteur

    Louis Pasteur was a France chemist and microbiologist best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of disease. His experiments supported the germ theory of disease, also reducing mortality from puerperal fever , and he created the first vaccine for rabies....
    )
  • 1880 - 1881 -Theory that bacterial virulence could be attenuated by culture in vitro and used as vaccines. Proposed that live attenuated microbes produced immunity by depleting host of vital trace nutrients. Used to make chicken cholera and anthrax "vaccines" (Louis Pasteur
    Louis Pasteur

    Louis Pasteur was a France chemist and microbiologist best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of disease. His experiments supported the germ theory of disease, also reducing mortality from puerperal fever , and he created the first vaccine for rabies....
    )
  • 1883 - 1905 - Cellular theory of immunity via phagocytosis by macrophages and microphages (polymorhonuclear leukocytes) (Elie Metchnikoff)
  • 1885 - Introduction of concept of a "therapeutic vaccination". First report of a live "attenuated" vaccine for rabies (Louis Pasteur
    Louis Pasteur

    Louis Pasteur was a France chemist and microbiologist best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of disease. His experiments supported the germ theory of disease, also reducing mortality from puerperal fever , and he created the first vaccine for rabies....
    ).
  • 1888 - Identification of bacterial toxins (diphtheria bacillus) (Pierre Roux and Alexandre Yersin
    Alexandre Yersin

    Alexandre Emile Jean Yersin was a France physician and bacteriology. Along with Shibasaburo Kitasato he is remembered as the co-discoverer of the bacillus responsible for the bubonic plague or pest, which was re-named in his honour ....
    )
  • 1888 - Bactericidal action of blood (George Nuttall
    George Nuttall

    George Henry Falkiner Nuttall was an United States-United Kingdom bacteriologist who contributed much to the knowledge of parasites and of insect carriers of diseases....
    )
  • 1890 - Demonstration of antibody activity against diphtheria and tetanus toxins. Beginning of humoral theory of immunity. (Emil von Behring) and (Shibasaburo Kitasato)
  • 1891 - Demonstration of cutaneous (delayed type) hypersensitivity (Robert Koch
    Robert Koch

    Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was a German physician. He became famous for isolating Bacillus anthracis , the Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the Vibrio cholerae and for his development of Koch's postulates....
    )
  • 1893 - Use of live bacteria and bacterial lysates to treat tumors-"Coley's Toxins" (William B. Coley)
  • 1894 - Bacteriolysis (Richard Pfeiffer
    Richard Friedrich Johannes Pfeiffer

    Richard Friedrich Johannes Pfeiffer was a Germany physician and bacteriologist.Pfeiffer was born in Zduny, Province of Posen, and died in Ladek-Zdr?j....
    )
  • 1896 - An antibacterial, heat-labile serum component (complement
    Complement system

    The complement system is a biochemical cascade that helps clear pathogens from an organism. It is part of the larger immune system that is not adaptable and does not change over the course of an individual's lifetime; as such it belongs to the innate immunity....
    ) is described (Jules Bordet
    Jules Bordet

    File:Jules Bordet pi.pngJules Jean Baptiste Vincent Bordet was a Belgium immunologist and microbiologist. The Genus Bordetella is named for him....
    )
  • 1900 - Antibody
    Antibody

    Antibodies are gamma globulin proteins that are found in blood or other bodily fluids of vertebrates, and are used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects, such as bacterium and viruses....
     formation theory (Paul Ehrlich
    Paul Ehrlich

    Paul Ehrlich was a German scientist in the fields of hematology, immunology, and chemotherapy, and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He is noted for his research in autoimmunity, calling it "horror autotoxicus"....
    )
  • 1901 - blood groups (Karl Landsteiner
    Karl Landsteiner

    Karl Landsteiner , was an Austrian biologist and physician. He is noted for his development in 1901 of the modern system of classification of Blood type from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the blood, and in 1930 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine....
    )
  • 1902 - Immediate hypersensitivity anaphylaxis
    Anaphylaxis

    Anaphylaxis is an acute Circulatory system and very severe Type I hypersensitivity allergy reaction in humans and other mammals. The term comes from the Greek words a?a ana and f??a??? phylaxis ....
     (Paul Portier) and (Charles Richet
    Charles Robert Richet

    Charles Robert Richet was a France physiologist who initially investigated a variety of subjects such as neurochemistry, digestion, thermoregulation in homeothermic animals, and breathing....
    )
  • 1903 - Intermediate hypersensitivity, the "Arthus reaction" (Maurice Arthus)
  • 1903 - Opsonization
  • 1905 - "Serum sickness" allergy
    Allergy

    Allergy is a Disorder of the immune system often also referred to as atopy. Allergic reactions occur to Natural environmental substances known as allergens; these reactions are Acquired disorder, predictable and rapid....
     (Clemens von Pirquet
    Clemens von Pirquet

    Clemens Peter Freiherr von Pirquet was an Austrian scientist and pediatrics best known for his contributions to the fields of bacteriology and immunology....
     and (Bela Schick
    Béla Schick

    B?la Schick , was a Hungary-born United States pediatrician. He is the founder of the Schick test. Was born in Balatonbogl?r, Hungary, and brought up in Graz, Austria, where he attended medical school....
    )
  • 1911 - 2nd demonstration of filterable agent that caused tumors (Peyton Rous)
  • 1917 - hapten
    Hapten

    A hapten is a small molecule which can elicit an immune response only when attached to a large carrier such as a protein; the carrier may be one which also does not elicit an immune response by itself....
     (Karl Landsteiner
    Karl Landsteiner

    Karl Landsteiner , was an Austrian biologist and physician. He is noted for his development in 1901 of the modern system of classification of Blood type from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the blood, and in 1930 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine....
    )
  • 1921 - Cutaneous allergic reactions (Carl Prausnitz and Heinz Küstner)
  • 1924 - Reticuloendothelial system
    Reticuloendothelial system

    The reticuloendothelial system , part of the immune system, consists of the phagocytosis cells located in reticular connective tissue, primarily monocytes and macrophages....
  • 1938 - Antigen
    Antigen

    An antigen is a substance that prompts the generation of antibodies and can cause an immune response. The word originated from the notion that they can stimulate antibody generation....
    -Antibody binding hypothesis (John Marrack)
  • 1940 - Identification of the Rh antigens (Karl Landsteiner
    Karl Landsteiner

    Karl Landsteiner , was an Austrian biologist and physician. He is noted for his development in 1901 of the modern system of classification of Blood type from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the blood, and in 1930 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine....
     and Alexander Weiner)
  • 1942 - Anaphylaxis
    Anaphylaxis

    Anaphylaxis is an acute Circulatory system and very severe Type I hypersensitivity allergy reaction in humans and other mammals. The term comes from the Greek words a?a ana and f??a??? phylaxis ....
     (Karl Landsteiner
    Karl Landsteiner

    Karl Landsteiner , was an Austrian biologist and physician. He is noted for his development in 1901 of the modern system of classification of Blood type from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the blood, and in 1930 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine....
     and Merill Chase)
  • 1942 - Adjuvant
    Adjuvant

    Adjuvants are pharmacology or immunology agents that modify the effect of other agents while having few if any direct effects when given by themselves....
    s (Jules Freund and Katherine McDermott)
  • 1944 - hypothesis of allograft rejection
  • 1946 - identification of mouse MHC
    Major histocompatibility complex

    The major histocompatibility complex is a large genome region or gene family found in most vertebrates. It is the most gene-dense region of the mammalian genome and plays an important role in the immune system, autoimmunity, and reproduction success....
     (H2) by George Snell and Peter A. Gorer
  • 1948 - antibody production in plasma B cell
    B cell

    B cells are lymphocytes that play a large role in the humoral immunity . The principal functions of B cells are to make antibody against antigens, perform the role of Antigen Presenting Cells and eventually develop into memory B cells after activation by antigen interaction....
    s
  • 1949 - growth of polio virus in tissue culture, neutralization with immune sera, and demonstration of attenuation of neurovirulence with repetitive passage (John Enders) and (Thomas Weller
    Thomas Huckle Weller

    Thomas Huckle Weller was an American virologist. He, John Franklin Enders and Frederick Chapman Robbins were awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1954 for showing how to cultivate poliomyelitis viruses in a test tube, using tissue from a monkey....
    ) and (Frederick Robbins)
  • 1949 - immunological tolerance hypothesis
  • 1951 - vaccine against yellow fever
    Yellow fever

    Yellow fever is an acute Virus disease. It is an important cause of hemorrhage illness in many African and South American countries despite existence of an effective vaccine....
  • 1953 - Graft-versus-host disease
    Graft-versus-host disease

    Graft-versus-host disease is a common complication of allogeneic Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in which functional immune cells in the transplanted marrow recognize the recipient as "foreign" and mount an immunologic attack....
  • 1953 - immunological tolerance hypothesis
  • 1957 - Clonal selection theory (Frank Macfarlane Burnet
    Frank Macfarlane Burnet

    Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Order of Merit, Order of Australia, Order of the British Empire , usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virology best known for his contributions to immunology....
    )
  • 1957 - Discovery of interferon
    Interferon

    Interferons are natural proteins produced by the cells of the immune system of most vertebrates in response to challenges by foreign agents such as viruses, parasites and tumor cells....
  • 1958-1962 - Discovery of human leukocyte antigens (Jean Dausset
    Jean Dausset

    Jean-Baptiste-Gabriel-Joachim Dausset is a France immunologist. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1980 along with Baruj Benacerraf and George Davis Snell for their discovery and characterisation of the genes making the major histocompatibility complex....
     and others)
  • 1959-1962 - Discovery of antibody structure (independently elucidated by Gerald Edelman
    Gerald Edelman

    Gerald Maurice Edelman is an American biology who won the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the immune system. Edelman's Nobel Prize-winning research concerned discovery of the structure of antibody molecules....
     and Rodney Porter)
  • 1959 - Discovery of lymphocyte
    Lymphocyte

    A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell in the vertebrate immune system.By their appearance under the light microscope, there are two broad categories of lymphocytes, namely the large granular lymphocytes and the small lymphocytes....
     circulation (James Gowans
    James Gowans

    James Gowans was a Scottish people rugby union international.In 1891, Gowans played a first-class cricket match for the Marylebone Cricket Club against Cambridge University....
    )
  • 1960 - Discovery of lymphocyte "blastogenic transformation" and proliferation in response to mitogenic lectins-phytohemagglutinin (PHA) (Peter Nowell)
  • 1961-1962 Discovery of thymus
    Thymus

    In human anatomy, the thymus is an organ located in the upper anterior portion of the Thoracic cavity just behind the sternum. The main function of the thymus is to provide an area for T lymphocyte maturation....
     involvement in cellular immunity (Jacques Miller
    Jacques Miller

    Jacques Francis Albert Pierre Miller FRS is a distinguished research scientist. He is famous for having discovered the function of the thymus and for the identification, in mammalian species of the two major subsets of lymphocytes and their function....
    )
  • 1961- Demonstration that glucocorticoids inhibit PHA-induced lymphocyte proliferation (Peter Nowell)
  • 1963 - Development of the plaque assay for the enumeration of antibody-forming cells in vitro (Niels Jerne
    Niels Kaj Jerne

    Niels Kaj Jerne, Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society was a Denmark immunologist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984. The citation read "For theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system and the discovery of the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies"....
    ) (Albert Nordin)
  • 1964-1968 T and B cell cooperation in immune response
  • 1965 - Discovery of the first lymphocyte mitogenic activity, "blastogenic factor" (Shinpei Kamakura) and (Louis Lowenstein) (J. Gordon) and (L.D. MacLean)
  • 1965 - Discovery of "immune interferon" (gamma interferon) (E.F. Wheelock)
  • 1965 - Secretory immunoglobulins
  • 1967 - Identification of IgE
    IGE

    IGE is one of the largest MMORPG services companies, with offices in Los Angeles, Miami, and China. IGE is one of the main players in virtual economy services, also known in the MMORPG industry as secondary market....
     as the reaginic antibody (Kimishige Ishizaka
    Kimishige Ishizaka

    Dr is a Japanese scientist who discovered the antibody class IgE in 1966. His work has been regarded as a major breakthrough in the understanding of allergy....
    )
  • 1968 - Passenger leukocytes identified as significant immunogens in allograft rejection (William L. Elkins and Ronald D. Guttmann)
  • 1969 - The lymphocyte cytolysis Cr51 release assay (Theodore Brunner) and (Jean-Charles Cerottini)
  • 1971 - Peter Perlmann and Eva Engvall
    Eva Engvall

    Eva Engvall is one of the scientists who invented ELISA in 1971....
     at Stockholm University
    Stockholm University

    Stockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has about 27,500 students studying at four faculties....
     invented ELISA
    ELISA

    Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay, also called ELISA, Enzyme ImmunoAssay or EIA, is a biochemistry technique used mainly in immunology to detect the presence of an antibody or an antigen in a sample....
  • 1972 - Structure of the antibody molecule
  • 1974 - T-cell restriction to major histocompatibility complex
    MHC

    MHC may refer to:...
     (Rolf Zinkernagel and (Peter Doherty
    Peter Doherty

    Peter Charles Doherty, Order of Australia is an Australian Veterinary Surgeon and researcher in the field of medicine. He received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1995, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996, and was named Australian of the Year in 1997....
    )
  • 1975 - Generation of the first monoclonal antibodies
    Monoclonal antibodies

    Monoclonal antibodies are monospecific antibody that are identical because they are produced by one type of white blood cell that are all cloning of a single parent cell....
     (Georges Köhler) and (César Milstein
    César Milstein

    C?sar Milstein was an Argentina biochemist in the field of antibody research. Milstein shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984 with Niels K....
    )
  • 1976 - Identification of somatic recombination of immunoglobulin genes (Susumu Tonegawa
    Susumu Tonegawa

    ?Susumu Tonegawa is a Japanese scientist who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for "his discovery of the genetics principle for generation of antibody diversity." Although he won the Nobel Prize for his work in immunology, Tonegawa is a molecular biology by training....
    )
  • 1979 - Generation of the first monoclonal T cells (Kendall A. Smith)
  • 1980-1983 - Discovery and characterization of the first interleukins, 1 and 2 IL-1
    IL-1

    IL-1 may refer to:* Interleukin 1, a protein* Illinois' 1st congressional district* Illinois Route 1* Building 1 of Infinite Loop , the Headquarters of Apple Inc....
     IL-2 (Kendall A. Smith)
  • 1981 - Discovery of the IL-2 receptor IL2R (Kendall A. Smith)
  • 1983 - Discovery of the T cell antigen receptor TCR
    T cell receptor

    The T cell receptor or TCR is a molecule found on the surface of T lymphocytes that is, in general, responsible for recognizing antigens bound to major histocompatibility complex molecules....
     (Ellis Reinherz) (Philippa Marrack
    Philippa Marrack

    Philippa "Pippa" Marrack Royal Society is a biologist, known for her research into T cells and autoimmune disease, and for identifying superantigens, the mechanism behind toxic shock syndrome....
    ) and (John Kappler
    John Kappler

    John W. Kappler is a professor in the Department of Integrated Immunology at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center. His principal research is in T cell, a subject he collaborates on with his wife Philippa Marrack....
    ) (James Allison)
  • 1983 - Discovery of HIV
    HIV

    Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that can lead to AIDS , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections....
     (Luc Montagnier
    Luc Montagnier

    Luc Montagnier is a France virology and joint recipient with Fran?oise Barr?-Sinoussi and Harald zur Hausen of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine....
    )
  • 1984 - The first single cell analysis of lymphocyte proliferation (Doreen Cantrell) and (Kendall A. Smith)
  • 1985-1987 - Identification of genes for the T cell receptor
  • 1986 - Hepatitis B vaccine produced by genetic engineering
    Genetic engineering

    Engineering There are a number of ways through which genetic engineering is accomplished. Essentially, the process has five main steps# Isolation of the genes of interest...
  • 1986 - Th1 vs Th2 model of T helper cell
    T helper cell

    T helper cells are a sub-group of lymphocytes that play an important role in establishing and maximizing the capabilities of the immune system....
     function (Timothy Mosmann)
  • 1988 - Discovery of biochemical initiators of T-cell activation: CD4- and CD8-p56lck complexes (Christopher E. Rudd
    Christopher E. Rudd

    Christopher Edward Rudd, PhD, DSc., FRCPath, FMedSci is a Canadian-born immunologist-biochemist credited with having had a major impact on the understanding of the intracellular signals that control T-cell immunity....
    )
  • 1990 - Gene therapy
    Gene therapy

    Gene therapy is the insertion of genes into an individual's cell and Biological tissues to treat a disease, such as a hereditary disease in which a deleterious mutant allele is replaced with a functional one....
     for SCID
    Severe combined immunodeficiency

    Severe combined immunodeficiency , or Boy in the Bubble Syndrome, is a genetic disorder in which both "arms" of the adaptive immune system are crippled, due to a defect in one of several possible genes....
  • 1991 - Role of peptide for MHC Class II structure (Sadegh-Nasseri & Germain)
  • 1994 - 'Danger' model of immunological tolerance (Polly Matzinger
    Polly Matzinger

    Polly Celine Eveline Matzinger is an iconoclastic scientist who proposed a novel explanation of how the immune system works, called the danger model....
    )
  • 1995 - Regulatory T cells (Shimon Sakaguchi)
  • 1996-1998 - Identification of Toll-like receptor
    Toll-like receptor

    Toll-like receptors are a class of proteins that play a key role in the innate immune system. They are single membrane-spanning non-catalytic Receptor that recognize structurally conserved molecules derived from microbes....
    s
  • 2001 - Discovery of FOXP3
    FOXP3

    FOXP3 is a gene involved in immune system responses. A member of the FOX proteins family, FOXP3 appears to function as the master Gene regulation in the development and function of regulatory T cells....
     - the gene directing regulatory T cell
    Regulatory T cell

    Regulatory T cells are a specialized subpopulation of T cells that act to suppress activation of the immune system and thereby maintain immune system homeostasis and tolerance to self-antigens....
     development
  • 2005 - Development of human papillomavirus
    Human papillomavirus

    A human papillomavirus is a papillomavirus that infects the skin and mucous membranes of humans. Approximately 130 HPV types have been identified....
     vaccine (Ian Frazer
    Ian Frazer

    Ian Hector Frazer is an Australian immunologist, best known for his work on the deavelopment of a cervical cancer HPV vaccine, which works by protecting women from Human papillomavirus....
    )