Jules Jean Baptiste Vincent Bordet (; 13 June 1870 – 6 April 1961) was a Belgian immunologist and

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of para ...

. The bacterial genus ''

Bordetella ''Bordetella'' () is a genus of small (0.2 – 0.7 µm), gram-negative coccobacilli of the phylum Pseudomonadota. ''Bordetella'' species, with the exception of '' B. petrii'', are obligate aerobes, as well as highly fastidious, or difficult ...

'' is named after him. The

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accordi ...

was awarded to him in 1919 for his discoveries relating to immunity.

Education and early life

Bordet was born at

Soignies Soignies (; nl, Zinnik, ; pcd, Sougniye; wa, Sougniye) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It consists of the following districts: Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. He graduated as Doctor of Medicine from the Free University of Brussels in 1892 and began his work at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vacc ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 1894, in the laboratory of

Elie Metchnikoff Elie and Earlsferry is a coastal town and former royal burgh in Fife, and parish, Scotland, situated within the East Neuk beside Chapel Ness on the north coast of the Firth of Forth, eight miles east of Leven. The burgh comprised the linked ...

, who had just discovered

phagocytosis Phagocytosis () is the process by which a cell uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle (≥ 0.5 μm), giving rise to an internal compartment called the phagosome. It is one type of endocytosis. A cell that performs phagocytosis is ...

of bacteria by

white blood cell White blood cells, also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are the cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders. All white blood cells are produced and derived from mult ...

s, an expression of cellular immunity.

Career

In 1895 Bordet made his discovery that the bacteriolytic effect of acquired specific

antibody An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of t ...

is significantly enhanced ''in vivo'' by the presence of innate serum components which he termed alexine (but which are now known as

complement A complement is something that completes something else. Complement may refer specifically to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-clas ...

). Four years later, in 1899, he described a similar destructive process involving complement, "

hemolysis Hemolysis or haemolysis (), also known by several other names, is the rupturing ( lysis) of red blood cells (erythrocytes) and the release of their contents ( cytoplasm) into surrounding fluid (e.g. blood plasma). Hemolysis may occur in viv ...

", in which foreign red blood cells are ruptured or "lysed" following exposure to immune serum. In 1900, he left Paris to found the

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

but continued to work extensively on the mechanisms involved in the action of complement. These studies became the basis for complement-fixation testing methods that enabled the development of serological tests for

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium '' Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, a ...

(specifically, the development of the Wassermann test by August von Wassermann). The same technique is used today in serologic testing for countless other diseases. With Octave Gengou, he isolated ''

Bordetella pertussis ''Bordetella pertussis'' is a Gram-negative, aerobic, pathogenic, encapsulated coccobacillus of the genus ''Bordetella'', and the causative agent of pertussis or whooping cough. Like '' B. bronchiseptica'', ''B. pertussis'' is motile and exp ...

'' in pure culture in 1906 and posited it as the cause of

whooping cough Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or t ...

. He became Professor of

Bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classificat ...

at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in 1907. Jules Bordet

Awards and honours

In March 1916, he was elected a Foreign Member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and in 1930, delivered their

Croonian Lecture The Croonian Medal and Lecture is a prestigious award, a medal, and lecture given at the invitation of the Royal Society and the Royal College of Physicians. Among the papers of William Croone at his death in 1684, was a plan to endow a single ...

. In this lecture, Bordet also concluded that

bacteriophages A bacteriophage (), also known informally as a ''phage'' (), is a duplodnaviria virus that infects and replicates within bacteria and archaea. The term was derived from "bacteria" and the Greek φαγεῖν ('), meaning "to devour". Bacterio ...

, the bacteria-killing "invisible viruses" discovered by Felix d'Herelle did not exist and that bacteria destroyed themselves using a process of autolysis. This theory collapsed in 1941 with the publication by Ruska of the first electron microscope pictures of bacteriophages. The

was awarded to him in 1919 for his discoveries relating to immunity. Bordet died in 1961 and was interred in the

Ixelles Cemetery Ixelles Cemetery (french: Cimetière d'Ixelles, ; nl, Begraafplaats van Elsene), located in Ixelles in the southern part of Brussels, is one of the major cemeteries in Belgium. ''Ixelles Cemetery'' also refers to a neighbourhood with a lot of ...

in Brussels. * 1919: Member of the

Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, sometimes referred to as ') is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Comm ...

.Index biographique des membres et associés de l'Académie royale de Belgique (1769–2005). *1921: Awarded the

Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh The Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh is awarded by the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine to a person who has made any highly important and valuable addition to Practical Therapeutics in the previous five ye ...

. The Bordet railway station in Brussels is named after him. The cancer hospital

Institut Jules Bordet Institut Jules Bordet is a specialized general hospital (with in part university beds) and research institute of the Université libre de Bruxelles which specializes in oncology. It is located in Brussels, Belgium. The institute is named after Ju ...

is also named after him.

References

* Jules Bordet ( Frederick P. Gay translator) (1909
Studies in Immunity

John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, i ...

, link from

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

External links

*
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1919
*

Jules Bordet Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bordet, Jules 1870 births 1961 deaths People from Soignies Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) faculty Belgian immunologists Belgian microbiologists Belgian Nobel laureates Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni Foreign Members of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium Walloon movement activists Burials at Ixelles Cemetery Pasteur Institute Presidents of the International Union of Microbiological Societies