Features From “ Diphtheritic ” Poison to Molecular Toxinology

In his book The Sleepwalkers, Arthur Koestler commented on how scientific progress has evolved along much more irregular paths than generally realized. During the past 100 years, deciphering the pathogenic effects of microorganisms and discovering the many important bacterial toxins represent another case Koestler might have drawn. Some of the most important achievements in the loo-year story of bacterial toxinology started in 1888 with the seminal discovery of the first bacterial protein toxin-diphtheria toxin-by Emile Roux (1853-1933) and Alexandre Yersin (1863-1943) at Institut Pasteur in Paris, 6 months after this “Temple of Science” was created.