César Milstein

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César Milstein
Argentine
, naturalised as British
Alma mater
Known forReceiving Nobel Prize "for theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the
monoclonal antibodies
"
Spouse
Celia Prilleltensky
​
(m. 1953)​
[3]
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
Doctoral advisorAndrés O.M. Stoppani[2]

César Milstein,

monoclonal antibodies.[9][10][11][12][2][13][14]

Biography

Milstein was born in

Medical Research Council
appointment.

Career

Science will only fulfill its promises when the benefits are equally shared by the really poor of the world

— César Milstein

The major part of Milstein's research career was devoted to studying the structure of antibodies and the mechanism by which antibody diversity is generated. It was as part of this quest that, in 1975, he worked with

Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. This discovery led to an enormous expansion in the exploitation of antibodies in science and medicine. The term hybridoma was coined by Leonard Herzenberg during his sabbatical in Milstein's laboratory between 1976 and 1977.[19]

Milstein himself made many major contributions to improvements and developments in monoclonal antibody technology—especially in the use of

monoclonal antibodies to provide markers that allow distinction between different cell types. In collaboration with Claudio Cuello, he helped lay the foundation for the use of monoclonal antibodies as probes for the investigation of the pathological pathways in neurological disorders as well as many other diseases.[20] Milstein and Cuello's work also enabled the use of monoclonal antibodies to enhance the power of immuno-based diagnostic tests.[21] In addition, Milstein foresaw the potential wealth of ligand-binding reagents that could result from applying recombinant DNA
technology to monoclonal antibodies and inspired the development of the field of antibody engineering, which was to lead to safer and more powerful monoclonal antibodies for use as therapeutics.

Milstein's early work on antibodies focused on their diversity at the amino acid level, as well as on the disulfide bonds by which they were held together. Part of this work was done in collaboration with his wife, Celia. The emphasis of his research then shifted towards the mRNA encoding antibodies, where he was able to provide the first evidence for the existence of a precursor for these secreted

antibodies, which make a major contribution to protective immunity and immunological memory. Much of his work in later years was devoted to characterizing this mutational process with a view to understanding its mechanism. He contributed a manuscript[23]
for publication on this topic less than a week before he died.

Quite apart from his own achievements, Milstein acted as a guide and inspiration to many in the antibody field, as well as devoting himself to assisting science and scientists in less developed countries. Milstein patented the production of monoclonal antibodies,[24] and held three other patents.

Awards and honours

In addition to the Nobel Prize in 1984, Milstein was elected a

Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1995. In 1993, the Argentinian Konex Foundation granted him the Diamond Konex Award
, one of the most prestigious cultural awards of Argentina, as the most important scientist in the last decade of his country.

Personal life

Milstein married Celia Prilleltensky in 1953.

Milstein died early on 24 March 2002, in Cambridge, England, at age 74, as a result of a heart condition that he had suffered from for many years.[25][26][27][28][29] His wife died in 2020 aged 92.

The film "Un fueguito, la historia de César Milstein" was released in 2010. Directed by Ana Fraile, the film was awarded Best Documentary by the Academy of Film in Argentina.

See also

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1098/rsbm.2005.0017
    .
  2. ^ a b César Milstein on Nobelprize.org Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ "Michael Clark, Obituary César Milstein (1927–2002), biochemist.org" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  4. PMID 12425336
    .
  5. S2CID 29375124
    .
  6. S2CID 161691240
    .
  7. S2CID 5279668
    .
  8. PMID 11976669
    .
  9. S2CID 54392404
    .
  10. PMID 6395024
    .
  11. PMID 6394268
    .
  12. PMID 6393048
    .
  13. ^ The Story of César Milstein and Monoclonal Antibodies Archived 7 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine on WhatisBiotechnology.org Archived 19 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ The Papers of César Milstein Archived 5 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine – Churchill Archives Centre
  15. ^ "conjoined a Nuestros Cientificos" [Meeting our Scientists] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  16. PMID 13479397
    .
  17. ^ "César Milstein | Argentine immunologist". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  18. PMID 13771002
    .
  19. PMID 10517870
    . The term hybridoma was proposed by Len Herzenberg during a sabbatical in my laboratory in 1976/1977. At a high-table conversation at a Cambridge College, Len was told by one of the dons that hybridoma was garbled Greek. By then, however, the term was becoming popular among us, and we decided to stick to it.
  20. PMID 386341
    .
  21. ^ The Story of César Milstein and Monoclonal Antibodies Archived 1 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  22. S2CID 4144338
    .
  23. PMID 12011459
    .
  24. ^ espacenet, patents (n.d.). "production of monoclonal antibodies". Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  25. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1984". NobelPrize.org. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  26. ^ "César Milstein | Argentine immunologist | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  27. ^ "Obituary: César Milstein". the Guardian. 27 March 2002. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  28. ^ "Cesar Milstein". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  29. ^ "Nobel-Winning Biologist Cesar Milstein Dies at 74". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 15 March 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2021.

External links

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