Georges J.F. Köhler
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Georges J.F. Köhler
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1984
Born: 17 April 1946, Munich, Germany
Died: 1 March 1995, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
Affiliation at the time of the award: Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel, Switzerland
Prize motivation: “for theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system and the discovery of the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies”
Prize share: 1/3
Work
The immune system includes cells, lymphocytes and antibodies that neutralize substances foreign to the body, or antigens. We have millions of different antibodies, but each cell can produce only one kind of antibody. Sometimes a cell that forms a certain kind of antibody grows abnormally and a tumor is formed. In 1975 George Köhler and Cesar Milstein developed a method for combining such tumor cells with cells that are immune to a certain antigen so that antibodies of the same type—monoclonal antibodies—can be produced.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
