• Question: Which was the first scientist to discover something about the immune system ?

    Asked by Vatore_8 to Carmen, Daniel, Laura, Noel, Steph on 10 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Carmen Denman

      Carmen Denman answered on 10 Mar 2015:

      Hi Vatore_8,

      Without searching for an answer on Google, I’m going to just guess maybe Louis Pasteur. He made the rabies vaccine and now has a famous institute named after him in Paris. I am sure there were many other scientists skirting around the idea of vaccines before Louis, but although they might have had ideas no one really know how a vaccine might work, it was more a bit of luck.

      Let me know if you have any other questions!
      Carmen

    • Photo: Noel Carter

      Noel Carter answered on 10 Mar 2015:

      This from the following wikipedia page:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immune_system

      The earliest known reference to immunity was during the plague of Athens in 430 BC. Thucydides noted that people who had recovered from a previous bout of the disease could nurse the sick without contracting the illness a second time.

      So the Greeks (as usual) were the first to recognise it!

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