Niels Kaj Jerne
Niels Kaj Jerne | |
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Monoclonal antibodies | |
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Scientific career | |
Fields | Immunology |
Niels Kaj Jerne,
Jerne is known for three significant ideas. Firstly, instead of the body producing antibodies in response to an antigen, Jerne postulated that the immune system already has the specific antibodies it needs to fight antigens. Secondly, it was known that the immune system learns to be tolerant to the individual's own self. Jerne postulated that this learning takes place in the thymus. Thirdly, it was known that T cells and B cells communicate with each other.[3]
Jerne's network theory proposed that the active sites of antibodies are attracted to both specific antigens (idiotypes) and to other antibodies that bind to the same site. The antibodies are in balance, until an antigen disturbs the balance, stimulating an immune reaction.[4]
Early years and Education
His ancestors had lived on the small Danish island of Fanø for centuries, but, in 1910, his parents moved to London where Jerne was born in 1911.[4]
During the
Research positions
From 1943 to 1956 Jerne was a research worker at the Danish National Serum Institute and during this time he formulated a theory on antibody formation. It is said that Jerne got his revolutionary scientific idea while bicycling across the Langebro bridge in Copenhagen on his way home from work.[6]
The antibody formation theory gave Jerne international recognition and in 1956 Jerne went to work for the World Health Organization in Geneva, where he served as the Head of the Sections of Biological Standards and of Immunology. He held this post for six years until moving to the United States and the University of Pittsburgh in 1962 to work as Professor of Microbiology and Chairman of the Department of Microbiology for four years. Jerne continued to do work for the World Health Organization as a member of the Expert Advisory Panel of Immunology from 1962 and onwards.
In 1966 Jerne moved back to Europe and took up the position of Professor of Experimental Therapy at the
According to Jerne's biographer Thomas Söderqvist, Jerne was not a bench scientist, could not pipette accurately, and did not enjoy experimental work. His Nobel Prize was awarded for theories, rather than discoveries. Jerne developed the "natural selection theory of immunology", proposed by
Family life
Jerne was married three times. He had two sons, Ivar Jerne (born 1936) and Donald Jerne (born 1941), with Tjek Jerne, a painter. Jerne had a third son, Andreas Wettstein, with Gertrud Wettstein, in 1971.[8]
According to Söderqvist, Tjek, 35, was distraught when she found out that Niels was having an affair with her best friend, Adda Sundsig-Hansen. Tjek had confided in Adda about her own affairs, and Adda had told Neils about them too. Niels demanded a divorce. Tjek begged him to stay. After he refused, she killed herself. Ivar woke up in the morning, smelled gas, and found his mother dead by the oven.[8] Jerne reportedly treated his second wife like a servant and nanny. He was serially unfaithful to his wives.[7]
Awards and honours
He was awarded honorary doctorates from
- University of Chicago (1972)
- Columbia University (1978)
- University of Copenhagen (1979)
- University of Basel (1981)
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (1983)
He was a member of
- Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1967)
- Member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (1969)
- SSI Honorary Member (1970)[9]
- Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences(1975)
- Foreign Member of the American Philosophical Society (1979)
- Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1980[1]
- Member of the Académie des Sciences(1981)
References
- ^ S2CID 45810507.
- The American Association of Immunologists. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
- ISBN 978-981-02-2614-5.
- ^ a b "Niels K. Jerne" on Nobelprize.org , accessed 11 October 2020
- ^ "Niels Jerne – Explaining the Human Immune System". SciHi Blog. 23 December 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- .
- ^ PMC 1326409.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-12871-0.
- ^ "Honorary Members". www.scandinavianimmunology.nu. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
Bibliography
- Jerne, N. K. (1955). "The Natural-Selection Theory of Antibody Formation" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 41 (11): 849–857. PMID 16589759.
- Jerne, N. K. (1974). "Towards a network theory of the immune system". Annales d'immunologie. 125C (1–2): 373–389. PMID 4142565.
- Jerne, N.K. (1984), Nobel lecture: The Generative Grammar of the Immune System (PDF), Nobelprize.org, retrieved 8 July 2019.
- Hoffmann, G.W. (1994), "Niels Jerne, Immunologist 1911–1994", Vaccine Research, 3, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.: 173–174, archived from the original on 6 October 2014.
- Dubiski, S. (2004). "Science as Autobiography: The Troubled Life of Niels Jerne". JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. 291 (10): 1267–1268. .
External links
- Niels K. Jerne on Nobelprize.org
- Interviews with Nobel Prize winning scientists: Niels Jerne, BBC, 25 April 1987. Video of an interviewed with Lewis Wolpert. Duration 37 minutes.