Isaacs, Alick

Alick Isaacs (1921-1967) and Jean Lindenmann (1924- ) publish their pioneering report on the drug interferon, a protein produced by interaction between a virus and an infected cell that can interfere with the multiplication of viruses. 

Dr. Alick Isaacs and Dr. Jean Lindenmann discovered interferon in 1957 in Great Britain. In an experiment, they mixed five viruses with egg membranes and unexpectedly found that the viruses did not grow. They did not know what caused this observation and simply indicated something interfered with the virus, so the term interferon was coined. They eventually identified the polypeptide and were able to isolate it from various cells, including those taken from calves, monkeys, and humans. 

This technology was also used to great effect for the production of interferons. Just as one bacterial infection can sometimes provide protection against another, through stimulation of the body s immune system, a similar phenomenon exists with viral infections. This viral interference was first observed by a number of research groups in the 1930s, but an explanation was only provided in 1957. Alick Isaacs and Jean Lindemann, of the National Institute for Medical Research in London, demonstrated that a protein, which they called interferon, was released by cells that had been infected with a virus. This agent then elicited an antiviral response by other cells. 

British biologist Alick Isaacs (1921-67) discovers interferon. 

---

See also in sourсe #XX -- [ , ]

See also in sourсe #XX -- [ , ]

---