Father of #Probiotics
Father of #Probiotics
Born 16 May 1845; died 15 Jul 1916 at age 71.
Elie Metchnikoff (a.k.a. Ilya Ilych Mechnikov) was a Russian-French biologist and #immunologist who shared, the 1908 #NobelPrize for #Physiology or Medicine with Paul Ehrlich “in recognition of their work on #immunity.”
Metchnikoff's research was on #phagocytosis, a fundamental process in immunology whereby #macrophages and other specialized cells #engulf and digest #bacteria and other foreign particles.
In 1882, leaving his university teaching career, he set up a private laboratory at Messina to better pursue his interest in #microbes and the #immunesystem. He discovered #phagocytosis by experiments on the larvae of #starfish.
His theory that certain white #bloodcells could engulf and destroy harmful bacteria was at first disbelieved, then slowly accepted by other scientists.
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