Behring, Emil (Adolph von) (1854-1917)

German physician who was awarded the first Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, in 1901, for his discovery that the body produces antitoxins, substances able to counteract poisons released by bacteria. Using this knowledge, he developed new treatments for diseases such as diphtheria.

Behring discovered the diphtheria antitoxin and developed serum therapy together with Japanese bacteriologist Shibasaburō Kitasato, and they went on to apply the technique to tetanus. Behring also introduced early vaccination techniques against diphtheria and tuberculosis.

Behring was born in Prussia and educated in Berlin, where he was assistant to bacteriologist Robert Koch before becoming professor of hygiene at Halle and Marburg.

Investigating tuberculosis, Behring recognized that the bovine and human forms of the disease were caused by the same micro-organism, thus identifying the danger to humans of drinking contaminated milk.