László Detre (October 29, 1874,
Nagysurány – May 7, 1939,
Washington, DC
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
(a.k.a. Ladislas Deutsch, Ladislaus Deutsch
["Origins of the Terms ']Antibody
An antibody (Ab) or immunoglobulin (Ig) is a large, Y-shaped protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as pathogenic bacteria, bacteria and viruses, includin ...
' and 'Antigen'", ''Scand. J. Immunol.'', 19, 281-285, 198
p. 281
/ref>) was a Hungarian physician 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 par ...
, the founder and first director of the Hungarian Serum Institute in Budapest.
Detre coined the term "antigen
In immunology, an antigen (Ag) is a molecule, moiety, foreign particulate matter, or an allergen, such as pollen, that can bind to a specific antibody or T-cell receptor. The presence of antigens in the body may trigger an immune response.
...
" in a 1903 French-language paper co-authored with Russian biologist Élie Metchnikoff
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (; – 15 July 1916), also spelled Élie Metchnikoff, was a zoologist from the Russian Empire of Moldavian noble ancestry and alshereat archive.org best known for his research in immunology (study of immune systems) and ...
(referring to "substances immunogènes ou antigènes"), although the word and concept appears in his research as early as 1899.[ He is also a codiscoverer of the ]Wassermann reaction
The Wassermann test or Wassermann reaction (WR) is an antibody test for syphilis, named after the bacteriologist August Paul von Wassermann, based on complement fixation. It was the first blood test for syphilis and the first in the nontrepon ...
, publishing his discovery in humans just two weeks after Wassermann documented his findings in apes.[The Washington Century: Three Families and the Shaping of the Nation's Capital By Burt Solomon, 2005, ]
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Detre, Laszlo
Hungarian microbiologists
1874 births
1939 deaths
Hungarian emigrants to the United States