August von Wassermann, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetAugust von Wassermann
German bacteriologist
Date of Birth: 21-Feb-1866
Place of Birth: Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
Date of Death: 16-Mar-1925
Profession: physician, biologist, university teacher, immunologist
Nationality: German Empire
Zodiac Sign: Pisces 
About August von Wassermann
- August Paul von Wassermann (21 February 1866 – 16 March 1925) was a German bacteriologist and hygienist. Born in Bamberg, with Jewish origins, he studied at several universities throughout Germany, receiving his medical doctorate in 1888 from the University of Strassburg.
- In 1890 he began work under Robert Koch at the Institute for Infectious Diseases in Berlin.
- In 1906 he became director of the division for experimental therapy and serum research at the institute, followed by a directorship of the department of experimental therapy at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft for the Advancement of Science in Berlin-Dahlem (1913).Wassermann developed a complement fixation test for the diagnosis of syphilis in 1906, just one year after the causative organism, Spirochaeta pallida, had been identified by Fritz Schaudinn and Erich Hoffmann.
- The so-called "Wassermann test" allowed for early detection of the disease (despite its nonspecific symptoms), and thus prevention of transmission.
- He attributed the development of the test to earlier findings of Jules Bordet and Octave Gengou (complement fixation reaction) and to a hypothesis introduced by Paul Ehrlich in his interpretation of antibody formation.The Wassermann test remains a staple of syphilis detection and prevention in some areas, although it has often been replaced by more modern alternatives.
- With Wilhelm Kolle, he published the six-volume Handbuch der Pathogenen Mikroorganismen (Handbook of Pathogenic Microorganisms). He was the first recipient of the Aronson Prize in 1921.
Read more at Wikipedia
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