Emil behring biography

Behring, one of twelve children of August Georg Behring, a teacher, and his second wife, Augustine Zech, grew up in simple circumstances in Hansdorf, a small town that is now under Polish administration. His father intended him to be a teacher or a minister, both traditional family professions, and in enrolled him in the Gymnasium of Hohenstein, in East Prussia.

What did emil von behring discover

During his school years Behring discovered his interest in medicine, but he saw no hope of pursuing it. In he received the M. In between, he served for a short time as physician to a battalion stationed in Wohlau. Behring, who had shown remarkable dedication at the Friedrich Wilhelms Institute, began to ponder scientific questions during his service in Wohlau and Posen.

He was particularly interested in the possibility of combating infectious diseases through the use of disinfectants. In Behring wrote his first paper on sepsis and antisepsis in theory and practice. In it he raised the question whether, in addition to external disinfection, the entire living organism could not be disinfected internally. He started investigations on iodoform discovered as early as but introduced into wound treatment only in and the disinfecting effect of its derivatives.

He concluded that the favorable results observed after the application of iodoform to infected wounds were not due to its being a parasiticide, but to its antitoxic effects. On the basis of later research, however, he came to reject its general use.