Michael Heidelberger and the demystification of antibodies

Michael Heidelberger and the demystification of antibodies

Having defined the protein nature of antibodies under the tutelage of Oswald Avery, Michael Heidelberger was the first to apply mathematics to the reaction of antibodies and their antigens (the "precipitin reaction"). Heidelberger's calculations launched decades of research that helped reveal the specificity, function, and origin of antibodies.

Heidelberger and the demystification of antibodies

Heidelberger and Avery’s early experiments hinged on a simple element: nitrogen. Based on its presence or absence, the duo showed that the antibody-reactive substances on pneumococcal bacterial capsules were nitrogen-free carbohydrates, and that the reacting antibodies were nitrogencontaining proteins (see “How Heidelberger and Avery sweetened immunology” JEM 202:1306). The discovery that antib...

Michael Heidelberger, 1933

Kant and Demystification of Ethics and Religion

Kant's demystification is meant to put away any metaphysical and revealed elements from ethics and religion. Kant, fulfilling this, first argues that metaphysical questions of reason, from theoretical aspect, have no certain answers. In practical reason, he establishes his moral foundations, based on own human being without any referring to metaphysical bases. In fact, Kant places human being a...

Comparison of Four Different Purification Methods for Isolation of Anti Echis carinatus Antivenom Antibodies from Immunized Chicken Egg Yolk

Egg-laying hens were immunized with the Echis carinatus venom and the resulting antibodies were extracted from egg yolk by four different purification methods. The chicken egg yolk antibodies were purified by the water dilution method, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and ammonium sulphate precipitation method, chloroform extraction and the Lithium sulphate precipitation method. These methods were com...