Élie Metchnikoff

Élie Metchnikoff was a Russian-born zoologist and immunologist who discovered phagocytosis and helped establish the cellular theory of immunity.

Paul Ehrlich: Paul Ehrlich was a German physician and scientist who developed the humoral theory of immunity and pioneered chemotherapy. His antibody-centered account of immunity became the major rival to Metchnikoff’s cellular theory.
Phagocytosis: Phagocytosis is the cellular process of engulfing and digesting particles, microbes, or other cells. Metchnikoff identified this process as a defense against invading microbes.
Starfish: Starfish are marine invertebrates with radial symmetry and a water vascular system. Metchnikoff observed mobile cells attacking foreign material in starfish larvae.
Immunology: Immunology is the study of immune systems and their responses to infection, disease, and foreign substances. Metchnikoff helped establish immunity as a field encompassing cellular as well as humoral defenses.
Louis Pasteur: Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist whose work helped establish germ theory and preventive vaccination. Pasteur invited Metchnikoff to join the Pasteur Institute, where he continued immunological research.
Phagocyte: A phagocyte is a cell that engulfs and digests particles, microbes, or cellular debris. These cells carried out the defensive action central to Metchnikoff’s theory.
Daphnia: Daphnia are small freshwater crustaceans commonly known as water fleas. Their infections by parasitic fungi offered Metchnikoff evidence of cellular defense.
Opsonization: Opsonization is the marking of a particle or microbe by molecules that promote its uptake by phagocytes. Later discoveries clarified how specific molecules make phagocytosis more effective.
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov: Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov is the Russian form of the name Élie Metchnikoff. This alternate transliteration appears in Russian-language sources for the same scientist.
Cellular immunity: Cellular immunity is immune protection mediated chiefly by cells rather than circulating antibodies. Metchnikoff’s account made cellular action a foundation of immune defense.

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