Singapore Med J 2013; 54(9): 475-476; http://dx.doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2013166
Jules Bordet (1870-1961): Pioneer of immunology
Dworkin J, Tan SY
Correspondence: Prof Tan Siang Yong, siang@hawaii.edu
SUMMARY
At the time when Jules Bordet began his groundbreaking experiments at the Pasteur Institute, the field of immunology was shrouded in pseudoscientific uncertainty. The lifting of this veil, through the persistent and patient process of experimentation, was Bordet’s great contribution to medicine in the 20th century.
Jules Bordet was born in 1870 in Soignies, a small town in Belgium. In 1874, his family moved to Brussels, and he attended a primary school in the Ecole Moyenne, where his father taught. In secondary school, Bordet became interested in chemistry, and at the age of sixteen, he enrolled into medical school at the Free University of Brussels. His early promise as a researcher earned him a scholarship to attend the Pasteur Institute in Paris. This was the beginning of a fateful relationship with Elie Metchnikoff, the father of cellular immunity and a mentor whose analytic style contrasted sharply with that of his young student.
Singapore Med J 2013; 54(9): 475-476; http://dx.doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2013166
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