Roux, Pierre Paul Emile (1853–1933)

French bacteriologist. With Louis Pasteur he studied anthrax, discovering vaccination with the attenuated virus. From 1888–90, Roux worked with Alexandre Yersin, confirming and extending Friedrich Loeffler's discovery of the diphtheria bacillus and showing that the toxin released by it was responsible for the first signs of the disease. This was the first bacterial toxin to be discovered. Roux did important work on the prevention and treatment of tetanus by antitoxic serum. He also demonstrated the use of diphtheria antitoxin developed from horse serum, and worked on the problem of syphilis, showing that it could be transmitted from man to the anthropoid apes.

Roux was born in Confolens, Charente, France. He studied medicine at the University of Clermond-Ferrand and, in 1878, entered Pasteur's laboratory, becoming its director in 1904.