Von Behring was awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of passive immunity
A
True
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B
False
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Solution
The correct option is A True Emil von Behring was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901 for his discovery of serum therapy for diphtheria. He and Shibasaburo Kitasato showed that serum from rabbits immunized with tetanus toxin could prevent tetanus in rabbits. Erlich's work demonstrating that increasing doses of bacterial toxins could provide immunity against lethal doses of toxin was the basis for the serum therapy findings. His work also led to the concepts of active and passive immunization, and to his Nobel Prize in 1908 awarded for establishing the field of humoral immunity. It is fitting to highlight Erlich's contribution to the initial conception of passive immunization in 2015, the 100 year anniversary of his death.