Kantha S S
Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Keio J Med. 1991 Mar;40(1):35-9. doi: 10.2302/kjm.40.35.
The significance of the 1890 tetanus antitoxin paper by von Behring and Kitasato in the development of a new discipline, immunology, is reviewed. The possible reasons why Kitasato lost the first Nobel Prize for medicine to von Behring are presented. These are as follows: (1) The Nobel selection committee literally interpreted Alfred Nobel's will to award the prize to "the person who has made the most important discovery." (2) In the late 19th century, diphtheria was a serious contagious disease which claimed many thousands of lives in the Europe and America; and von Behring's solely authored paper on diphtheria antitoxin clinched the award for him. (3) The merit of tetanus antitoxin to humans, which was the focal point of the 1890 paper on tetanus antitoxin jointly authored by von Behring and Kitasato, was not recognized at the time of the award in 1901; it became apparent only during the First World War.
回顾了1890年冯·贝林和北里柴三郎关于破伤风抗毒素的论文在新学科免疫学发展中的意义。阐述了北里柴三郎未能从冯·贝林手中获得首届诺贝尔医学奖的可能原因。具体如下：（1）诺贝尔评选委员会从字面上解读了阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔的遗嘱，将奖项授予“做出最重要发现的人”。（2）在19世纪末，白喉是一种严重的传染病，在欧美夺去了成千上万人的生命；冯·贝林关于白喉抗毒素的独著论文为他赢得了该奖项。（3）破伤风抗毒素对人类的价值，这是1890年冯·贝林和北里柴三郎共同撰写的关于破伤风抗毒素论文的重点，在1901年颁奖时并未得到认可；直到第一次世界大战期间才变得明显。
