Title:

Lab notes from Michael Heidelberger and Oswald Avery's experiments on pneumococcus bacteria and polysaccharides (4 of 4)

Creator:

Heidelberger, Michael
Avery, Oswald Theodore, 1877-1955

Date:

[1925-1927]

Description:

The laboratory notes document Heidelberger's and Oswald Avery's seminal experiments, conducted between 1923 and 1925, through which they found that powerful antigens of type-specific pneumococcus bacteria were polysaccharides--carbohydrates--not proteins, as scientists had assumed. Heidelberger and Avery showed that it was what Avery had called the "soluble specific substance" (soluble because it could be dissolved in saline solution), the polysaccharides, contained in the capsules of the various types of pneumococcus bacteria, which determined the virulence of each type. Their discovery was a crucial advance in the application of chemistry to immunology. For the rest of his long scientific career, Heidelberger explored the many implications of this discovery both for experimental science and for medicine.

Location:

Box: 15. Folder: 21

Rights:

Public Domain

Genre:

Laboratory notes

Subject:

Polysaccharides and Streptococcus pneumoniae

Format:

Text

Extent:

35 pages

Relation:

Lab notes from Michael Heidelberger and Oswald Avery's experiments on pneumococcus bacteria and polysaccharides (1 of 4), 1923
Lab notes from Michael Heidelberger and Oswald Avery's experiments on pneumococcus bacteria and polysaccharides (2 of 4), 1923
Lab notes from Michael Heidelberger and Oswald Avery's experiments on pneumococcus bacteria and polysaccharides (3 of 4), 1925

Language:

English

Legacy ID:

DHBBLW

NLM ID:

101584940X180

Profiles Collection:

The Michael Heidelberger Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584940X180

Story Section:

The Making of an Immunologist: Heidelberger's Years at the Rockefeller Institute, 1912-1927