Centennial of Metchnikoff's discovery.

Abstract

Phagocytosis was discovered by Elie Metchnikoff (Ilia Mechnikov) in 1882. Although the phenomenon of endocytosis by the leukocytes (more related to the pinocytosis) had been described 30 years earlier [8], it was Metchnikoff who explained its function, and alerted the scientific community to the importance of phagocytosis in immunity. He devoted most of his life to studying different aspects of phagocytosis and related immunological phenomena. It required 25 years of intense effort to achieve recognition of the phagocytosis theory, the first experimentally based theory in immunology. This struggle culminated in 1908 with the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Metchnikoff and Ehrlich for their two theories of immunity, "cellular" and "humoral," respectively. That was an official recognition of the existence and importance of immunology, but modern immunology began at the moment of Metchnikoff's discovery, which is why 1982 may be considered the 100th year anniversary of immunology.

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