Milestones in
Experimental Medicine
1790s
1796 — Edward Jenner demonstrates that an infection with cowpox virus results in immunity to smallpox.
1870s
1876 – Robert Koch shows that microbes can cause disease.
1877 – Mast cells are discovered by Paul Erlich.
1880s
1883 – Ilya Mechnikov first describes phagocytosis.
1890s
1896 – Journal of Experimental Medicine founded.
1900s
1906 – The first case of Alzheimer's disease is described by Alios Alzheimer.
1910s
1911 – Peyton Rous describes sarcoma of the fowl leading to the discovery of oncogenes.
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1918 – The first cases of Spanish flu are documented.
1920s
1921 – Discovery of insulin.
1928 – Penicillin discovered by Alexander Flemming.
1930s
1937 – Alexis Carrel describes how to culture whole living organs ex vivo.
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1940s
1941 – Karl Landsteiner describes human blood groups and the genetic rules that govern blood transfusion.
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1942 – Jules Freund and Katherine McDermott discover adjuvants.
1944 –DNA shown to be the molecule which carries genetic information.
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1948 – Plasma B cells first demonstrated to be involved in antibody generation.
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1950s
1953 – The structure of DNA is discovered.
1960s
1961 – First description of the involvment of the thymus in cellular immunity.
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1964 – T and B cells are shown to cooperate in the immune response.
1964 – Epstein-Barr Virus linked to human cancer for the first time.
1964 – Grey and Kunkel identify of discrete subclasses of IgG.
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1967 – First successful heart transplant is completed.
1970s
1973 – Ralph Steinman first identifies DCs.
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and here
1975 – Monoclonal antibodies are generated.
1975 – NK cells discovered.
1980s
1983 – Discovery of the T cell antigen receptor.
1983 – HIV is identified.
1986 – Th1 vs Th2 model of T helper cell function.
1989 – Discovery of HCV as the causative agent of Hepatitis C.
1990s
1990 – First application of gene therapy.
1995 – First descriptions of checkpoint inhibitors.
(See also van Elsas et al., 1999 and Freeman et al., 2000.)
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1995 – Regulatory T cells discovered.
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1996 – Identification of Toll-like receptors.
2000s
2004 – Discovery of Th17 cells.
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2009 – Several distinct ILC populations described.
2010s
2012 – First application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology to gene editing.
2017 – The first autologous CAR T-cell therapy.
2019 – COVID-19 pandemic.
