2023-10-15 14:00:00
On October 15, 1984, the Argentine scientist César Milstein won the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
He was born in Bahía Blanca in 1927. His mother was a teacher and his father was a Russian immigrant who was dedicated to commerce. Caesar was the middle brother of three boys. His vocation for medicine was awakened at the age of ten, when his mother gave him the book “The Microbe Hunters” by Paul de Kruif. The scientific work meant a true adventure story for Milstein.
He was also marked by a visit he made to the Malbrán Institute where an older cousin worked. César asked her to meet him following she told him regarding the experiments with snake venom that were carried out there. He studied at the UBA where he received his degree in chemistry and then earned his doctorate. He immediately began working in Dr. Andrés Stoppani’s research team.
Shortly following, he obtained a scholarship to study at Cambridge under the tutelage of Fred Sanger. Upon his return to Argentina he held the position of head of molecular biology at the Malbrán Institute, a position from which he resigned following the overthrow of Arturo Frondizi and the subsequent intervention of the organization during the presidency of José María Guido. After his resignation, he sent a letter to the two-time Nobel winner, the biochemist Frederick Sanger, who proposed that he dedicate himself to the study of antibodies.
In 1975, César Milstein, together with the German George Kohler, published research in the magazine “Science” in which they revealed monoclonal antibodies, a revolutionary discovery for science. It involves the production in the laboratory of proteins capable of attacking invading substances in the patient to specifically target a type of cell. Its application is very broad and extends to the fight once morest cancer, the preparation of pregnancy tests and the production of vaccines, among other uses.
Although it would have made him enormously rich, Milstein did not register any patents for his discovery, as he believed that intellectual property belonged to all of humanity. In addition to the Nobel Prize, he also received the Wolf Prize in Medicine in 1980 and the Konex de Brillante in ’93.
He died on March 24, 2002 in Cambridge, England, at the age of 74.
On October 15, 1984, Argentine scientist César Milstein won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. The story is also news on Radio Perfil.
Pita Fortín Voiceover
Screenplay by Javier Pasaragua
Video Ezequiel Montaña
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