Landsteiner, Karl

Landsteiner, Karl (1868-1943) Austrian Biochemist Karl Landsteiner was born in Vienna on June 14, 1868, to Leopold Landsteiner, a journalist and newspaper publisher, and Fanny Hess. Landsteiner studied medicine at the University of Vienna, graduating in 1891. 

Karl Landsteiner Physiology/Medicine Blood groups A, B, O, Rh... 

In the first half of the 20th century antibodies were discovered and researched by Karl Landsteiner (Austria). 

In 1904, Dr. Karl Landsteiner performed a series of experiments on the blood of workers in his laboratory. His results explained the mysterious transfusion fatalities, and blood transfusions were reinstated as a lifesaving clinical tool. Landsteiner took blood samples from his coworkers. He separated the blood cells from the serum, the liquid component of the blood, and mixed these samples in test tubes. When he mixed serum from one individual with blood cells of another, Landsteiner observed that, in some instances, the serum samples caused clumping, or agglutination, of red blood cells (RBC). The agglutination reaction always indicated that the two bloods were incompatible and transfusion could lead to life-threatening reactions. As a result of many such experiments, Landsteiner showed that there are four human blood groups, designated A, B, AB, and O. 

Around the turn of the century it was shown that Abs are not only produced against microorganisms and their toxins, but also by other substances such as milk, protein or plant-derived toxins. Paul Ehrhch was the first to carry out quantitative studies on Ag-Ab interactions. The great interest in this field led to the first book on immunochemistry, published by Svante Arrhenius in 1907/10) Karl Landsteiner also belongs to the pioneers in immunochemistry. He systematically used small artificial molecules, which he called haptens, coupled to a carrier molecule for immunization. In 1923 Heidelberger and co-workers found polysaccharides to be antigenic as well. 

Acknowledgments.—My interest in immunology was awakened by conversations with Dr. Karl Landsteiner I am glad to express my gratitude to him, and to acknowledge my indebtedness to him for ideas as well as for facts. I wish also to thank Professors Michael... 

The nature of the intermolecular forces operative in biological processes. Science 92 (1940) 77-79. (Linus Pauling and Max Delbruck). SP 112 Molecular structure and intermolecular forces. In The Specificity of Serological Reactions (rev. edn.), Karl Landsteiner, ed. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, (1945), pp. 275-293. 

Among the first discovered and best understood of these membrane-bound carbohydrates are those of the ABO blood-group system, discovered in 1900 by Karl Landsteiner (1868-1943). Whether an individual has type A, B, AB, or O blood is genetically determined and depends on the type of... 

Baldo BA. Immunochemical perspectives of alleigy in the steps of Karl Landsteiner. In Baldo BA, editor. Monographs in allergy. Molecular approaches to the study of allergens, vol. 28. Basel Kaiger, 1990. p. 1-10. 

In 1930, Karl Landsteiner received the Nobel Prize for medicine in his discovery of the four major blood groups, which he had initially discovered in 1901. In 1927, he identified the M and N groups, and in 1940, he discovered the Rhesus (Rh) factor. 

The discovery of blood transfusion and the beginning of an industrial life cycle. Blood transfusions became possible after 1900, following the discovery of the ABO system and blood group compatibility by Karl Landsteiner (innovation stage). The period from 1910 to 1930 saw the first steps towards optimisation progress was concentrated on the conditions for large-scale commercialisation, the organisation of the blood collection network, blood banks and the development of clinical applications. 

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