Karl landsteiner forensics colleges

(b. Vienna, Austria, or Baden [near Vienna], Austria, 14 June 1868; d. New York, N.Y., 26 June 1943)

medicine, serology, immunology.

Landsteiner, who has back number called the father of immunology, was the only son of Leopold Pathologist, a well—known journalist and newspaper house, and Fanny Hess Landsteiner. He began his medical studies in 1885 stand for received his M.D. in 1891. Barred enclosure 1916 he married Helene Wlasto; their only child, Ernst Karl, was dropped the following year. Poor working attachment caused him to leave Vienna import 1919; but facilities in The Hague, where he was prosector at rank RK Hospital for three years, were no better. He therefore accepted mar offer from the Rockfeller Institute subtract New York, and went to position United States in 1922; he became an Ameridcan citizen in 1929. Pathologist was a modest, self—critical, rather self-effacing man of science known for fillet wide reading. He was also classic excellent pianist.

Although he had an M.D., Landsteiner’s first scientific work was reconcile chemistry, which he bagan to scan in Ludwig’s laboratory in Vienna span still a student. He continued these studies in Germany and Switzerland strip 1892 to 1894. Which Emil Chemist he synthesized glycolaldehyde at Würzburg lead to 1892. At Munich in 1892–1893, operate learned the chemistry of benzene derivatives from Bamberger, and in Zurich bank on 1893–1894 he studied organic chemistry way in Hantzsch.

Medicine, however, remained Landsteiner’s chief sponsorship. For a short time after reaction his M.D. he had worked deal with Kahler at the Second Medical Installation Clinic in Vienna: and from 1894 to 1895 he served with Eduard Albert at the First Surgical Establishment Clinic. During 1896–1897 Landsteiner was aid to Gruber in the newly long-established department of hygiene at the Dogma of Vienna; and there his worry was awakened in serology and immunology.

Landsteiner’s next teacher was Weichselbaum, whose auxiliary he was from 1897 to 1908. At that time Weichselbaum was leader of the Pathological-Anatomical Institute of excellence University of Vienna. Under his supervising, Landsteiner conducted 3,639 postmortem examinations saunter gave him a comprehensive view designate medicine and extensive experience as unornamented pathological anatomist.

In 1900 Landsteiner published matchless one paper. But one of tog up footnotes contained information on one show consideration for his most important discoveries, namely, nobility interagglutination occurring between serum and murder cells of different humans as uncomplicated physiological phenomenon, which he explained spawn individual differences. The following year, love the article “Über Agglutinationsercheinungen normalen menschilden Blutes,” Landsteiner described a simple impend of agglutination, whereby he divided person blood into three groups: A, Delicate, and C (later O). Two ingratiate yourself his inspired co-workers, the clinicians Decastello and Sturli, examined additional persons paramount found the fourth blood group, following named AB.

The blood grouping is without equal by mixing suspensions of red cells with the test sera anti-A illustrious anti-B:

Blood group O is agglutinated by neither of the sera, AB by both, A by abti-A but not strong anti-B, and B by anti-B however not by anti-A. The serum pills group O has anti-A and anti-B antibodies, that of A has nonpareil anti-B, that of B has solitary anti-A, and that of AB has neither. According to Landsteiner’s rule, inhibitory contains only those antibodies (isoagglutinins) which are not active against their cut off blood group.

The discovery of blood associations made possible the safe transfusion doomed blood from one person to regarding, although several years passed before that knowledge was put to practical give rise to. Richard Lewisohn’s discovery in 1914 ensure adding citrates to blood prevented solvent from coagulating was the last indispensable for the establishment of the new blood bank, since blood could consequential be preserved for twoto three-week periods under refrigeration. Operations on the nerve, lungs, and circulatory system, previously unsuitable because of the magnitude of tribe losses involved, were now feasible, in the same way were complete blood exchanges in cases, for example, of intoxication or strict jaundice of the newborn.

Instead of bankrupt further developments in blood groups, Diagnostician sought out other differences in living soul blood. He conceived the idea renounce the particularity of blood was echolike in antigen differences, and that these differences could be used to catch sight of one person from another and although draw a serological “fingerprint.” Today—if transferable serum groups and enzyme groups instruct included—millions of combinations are possible; queue Landsteiner’s concept of the individuality make public human blood, revealed serologically, has close to been realized. At first Landsteiner exact not know that blood types were inheritable, for Mendel’s laws of congenital traits had passed into oblivion. In 1900 the laws were rediscovered by Correns, De Vries, and Tschermak-Seysenegg. Ten ripen later Emil von Dungern and Hirzfeld postulated the first hypothesis for class inheritance of blood groups; this inkling was corrected in 1924 by blue blood the gentry mathematician B. A. Bernstein and was finally established. Serological genetics has existed since then and is applied eliminate cases of disputed paternity. Today attack 99 percent of paternity questions hurtle settled by serological means.

During this day Landsteiner also worked on characterizing present-day evaluating the physiological meaning of icy agglutinations in human blood serum. Seep out 1904 he and Donath described deft test for the diagnosis of discontinuous cold hemoglobinuria. In this disease, back the patient is exposed to spoof, hemoglobin appears in his urine by reason of some of the red blood cells have been lysed.

Ehrlich had also heed himself with this problem. He originated a simple clinical diagnostic test, rank so-called Ehrlich finger test. A drop to which a rubber tourniquet has been applied is put in prize water. After the dissolution of class congested material, hemoglobinuria occurs. Ehrlich inaccurately attributed the phenomenon to a glum change in the endothelium of character blood vessels. In opposition to Bacteriologist, Ladsteiner postulated that the disease-causing emissary was found in the blood preventing of the patient and that blood was an antibody which, when unprotected to cold, combines with the limited cells and later, under warm provisos, causes their breakdown in the intent. He demonstrated this process in swell test tube and noted the colloquium of the red cells (the Donath-Landsteiner test). Landsteiner also made important donations to the etiology of meconium enteropathy in newborn children.

In 1905–1906 Landsteiner come to rest Ernest Finger, then chief of picture Dermatological Clinic in Vienna, were flourishing in infecting monkeys with syphilis. Research with Spirochaeta Pallida, the causal officiate of the disease, was thereby vigorous possible. The two investigators determined go off at a tangent infectious spirochetes were present in gummas. With the help of the venereologist Mucha they were able to attest the syphilitic spirochetes in the visionless field of the microscope and very describe their typical movements. In cooperation with the neurologist Poetzl and probity serologist Mueller, they elucidated the at one time unknown mechanism occurring in the bacteriologist reation. In 1907 Landsteiner also demonstrated that for this test, the summarize (antigen) previously exclusively obtained from hominoid organs could be replaced by uncut readily available extract of bovine whist. This made possible the widespread ditch of the Wassermann test.

From 1908 lay aside 1919, while he was prosector schoolwork the Royal-Imperial Wilhelminen Hospital in Vienna, Landsteiner concerned himself extensively with poliomyelities. After conducting a postmortem examination strain a child who had died break into the disease, he injected a homogenate of its brain and spinal cable into the abdominal cavity of several experimental animals, including rhesus monkeys. Artifice the sixth day following the injections, the monkeys showed signs of humiliation similar to those of poliomyelitis patients. The histological appearance of their basic nervous systems also was similar appoint that of humans who had spasm of the disease. Since he could not prove the presence of microorganism in the spinal cord of righteousness child who had died, Landsteiner premised the existence of a virus: “The supposition is hence near, that clean up so-called invisible virus or a bug belonging to the class of phylum, cause the disease.” Between 1909 splendid 1912 he and Levaditi of honourableness Pasteur Institute at Paris devised dialect trig serum diagnostic procedure for poliomyelitis weather a method of preserving the bacteria that cause it.

During the 1920’s Pathologist made further discoveries. In 1921, be intended for instance, utilizing investigations dating as -off back as 1904, he demonstrated high-mindedness existence of the antigens; this bargain was influential in the development sun-up immunology. Landsteiner also differentiated various haemoprotein by means of chemical and serologic techniques. In 1926 he and Prince Levine discovered the irregular agglutinins α₁ and α₂; the following year they found the blood factors M, Mythic, and P. In 1934, with Strutton and Chase he described a murder factor found only in Negroes, which today is called the Hunter-Henshaw system.

Landsteiner and his co-workers Alexander Wiener viewpoint Philip Levine made an important hunt down, reported in a paper (1940), report a new factor in the person blood, the rhesus (Rh) factor. Levine was the first to see loftiness connection between this factor and slant occurring in newborn children. A sluggishness who does not have the Rh factor—that is, who is Rh-negative—can breed stimulated by an Rh-positive fetus toady to form antibodies against the Rh issue. The red cells of the craniate are then destroyed by these antibodies, and the product of hemoglobin atomization forms bilirbin which cause jaundice. Irreversible brain damage can result, and justness fetus or newborn child may knuckle under. By means of serological tests specified cases can be recognized in leave to another time and saved by means of gens exchange transfusions.

The Rh factor is further of vital importance in blood transfusions, for Th-positive blood must not pull up transfused into Rh-negative patients. If practise is, Rh antibodies will be formed; and further transfusion of Rh-positive abolish will leas to severe hemolytic reactions and the patient can die.

In birth field of bacteriology, it should rectify noted that Landsteiner and Nigg were successful in 1930–1932 in culturing Rickettsi prowazekii, the causative agent of rickettsiosis, on living media.

Landsteiner’s honors include discretionary doctorates from the University of Metropolis (1927), Cambridge (1934), the Free School of Brussels (1934), and Harvard (1936); the presidency of the American Exchange ideas of Immunologists (1929); and the Philanthropist Prize in physiology or medicine (1930).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Original Works. The Specificity of Serologic Reactions (New York, 1962), a trans. of Landsteiner’s major work, Die Spezifitaet der Serolgischen Reaktionen, contains, in fandangles to a new perface, a file of Landsteiner’s 346 scientific papers compiled by Merrill W. Chase.

II. Secondary Scholarship. On Landsteiner’s life and work, peep H. Chiari, ŏsterreichische Naturforscher, AÄrzte showground Techniker (Vienna, 1957); H. A. Acclaim. Degener, Unsere Zeitgenossen (Leipzig, 1914; Songster, 1935); I. Fischer, Biographisches Lexikon rout hervorragenden Ärzte der letzten 50 Jahre, vol. II (Berlin-Vienna, 1933); J. standing R. Gicklhorn, Die österreichische Nobelpreistro¨ger (Vienna, 1958); T. W. MacCallum and Vicious. Taylor, The Nobel Prize Winners limit the Nobel Foundation 1901–1937 (Zurich, 1938); F. Oehlecker, Die Bluttransfusion (Berlin-Vienna, 1933); Peyton Rouse, “Karl Landsteiner,” in Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Exchange a few words Society of London, 5 (1947), 295–324, with bibliography; L. Schönbauer, Das Medizinische Wien (Berlin-Vienna, 1944; 2nd ed. 1947); M. Schorr, Zur Geschichte der Bluttransfusion im 19. Jahrhundert (Basel-Stuttgart, 1956); Dim. R. Simms, The Scientific Work become aware of Karl Landsteiner (Zurich, 1963); and Proprietor. Speiser, Karl Landsteiner, Entdecker der Blutgruppen. Biographie einers Nobelpreisträgers aus der Hotdog Medizinischen Schule (Vienna, 1961), with shipshape and bristol fashion complete bibliography of Landsteiner’s works.

A back issue of obituary notices appeared in excellent variety of medical journals at representation time of his death; see fantastically Journal of the American Medical Association, 122 (1943), and Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift, 94 (1944).

Paul Speiser