Kitasato Shibasaburō
| Kitasato Shibasaburō | |
|---|---|
Baron Kitasato Shibasaburō
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| Born |
January 29, 1853 Oguni, Kumamoto, Japan |
| Died | June 13, 1931 (aged 78) Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Fields | bacteriologist |
| Institutions | Tokyo Imperial University |
| Known for | bubonic plague |
| Influences | Robert Koch |
Baron Kitasato Shibasaburō (北里 柴三郎?, January 29, 1853 – June 13, 1931) was a Japanese physician and bacteriologist during the prewar period. He is remembered as the co-discoverer of the infectious agent of bubonic plague in Hong Kong in 1894, almost simultaneously with Alexandre Yersin.
Kitasato was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901, Kitasato and Emil von Behring working together in Berlin in 1890 announced the discovery of diphtheria antitoxin serum, Von Behring was awarded the 1901 Nobel Prize because of this work, but Kitasato was not.
Kitasato was born in Okuni village, Higo Province, (present-day Oguni Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyūshū). He was educated at Kumamoto Medical School and Tokyo Imperial University.
He studied under Dr. Robert Koch in the University of Berlin from 1885 to 1891. In 1889, he was the first person to grow the Tetanus bacillus in pure culture, and in 1890 cooperated with Emil von Behring in developing a serum therapy for tetanus using this pure culture. He also worked on antitoxins for diphtheria and anthrax. Kitasato and Behring demonstrated the value of antitoxin in preventing disease by producing a passive immunity to tetanus in an animal that received graded injections of blood serum from another animal infected with the disease.
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