The Inventor of the Diphtheria Vaccine: Emil von Behring

- વિશ્વના વિજ્ઞાનીઓ

Vaccines are administered to prevent viral diseases. Getting injured by iron can also cause a fatal disease called tetanus. The vaccine for diphtheria, a disease that affects children, was discovered by Emil von Von Behring. Behring is considered a pioneer of vaccine science. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1901 for his discovery of the diphtheria vaccine and became famously known as the "Saviour of Children."

Von Behring was born on March 15, 1854, in the village of Hansdorf in Prussia, Germany. His father was a school teacher, and Behring had 12 siblings. After his primary education at a local school, he joined the Kaiser Wilhelm Academy in Berlin as a military doctor. Soldiers often contracted tetanus from gunshot wounds.

Behring deeply studied tetanus and childhood diphtheria. After conducting trials on horses, pigs, and goats, he experimented on humans in 1892 and developed the first diphtheria vaccine. Following this, he was appointed as a professor at the University of Marburg, where he served for the rest of his life. He also became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Behring established his own vaccine manufacturing company, which remains one of the world's leading companies today. Behring passed away on March 31, 1917.