For 19th-century physicians and medical scientists, immunology was a very abstract concept.

In fact, more than 2,000 years ago, people discovered that if they had a certain disease, they had resistance to reinfection with the disease, and this ability was called "immunity" by Westerners, and "fighting poison with poison" by ancient Oriental doctors.

The earliest immunological applications were empirically applied, most notably vaccinia.

In the second half of the 19th century, Koch proposed the theory that pathogenic bacteria cause disease, while Pasteur used attenuated anthrax bacillus to prevent the occurrence of disease, and subsequently created a rabies vaccine that caused a sensation in the world. So in the decade after John's rebirth, Western medical scientists desperately searched for the "pathogenic bacteria" of various diseases, and tried to prevent or even treat them by preparing vaccines.

But......

The physicians of this era know too little, and don't forget that they have only learned about the existence of bacteria for a long time, and the microcosm of the human body knows very little. Luckily, Ehrlich was one of the best medical scientists of his time, and he also had the best partner of his time, John? Mr. Huntelaar......

"To put it simply, I've been doing a lot of interesting experiments lately."

After Ehrlich briefly looked through the information, John said with a smile: "Through these experiments, combined with the results of previous research, I have come to some simple conclusions and made several definitions...... Well, just a few pages of this information. ”

"Well, I saw it."

Nodding, Ehrlich's expression grew excited.

If the invention of ancient vaccinia is the ancestor of immunology, and the preparation of attenuated vaccine by Pasteur is the beginning of modern immunology, then the last decade of the 19th century is the foundation stage of immunology. It was around this decade that the Russians and Germans started two schools: the school of cellular immunity, which believed that phagocytes were determined. and the humoral immunology school, which believes that antibodies in serum are the main factor. Ehrlich is one of the representative figures of the humoral immunology school. It wasn't until more than a decade later that it was discovered that there was a substance in blood and other bodily fluids that could increase phagocytosis, that the two were combined.

What John gave to Ehrlich was to establish a basic concept.

Antigens and antibodies are one of the basic concepts of immunology, and John started with Pasteur's attenuated vaccine. After an in-depth analysis of the antitoxin serum research that I had just completed, I called this thing that can cause a specific reaction an antibody, and called the substance that causes the production of antibodies an antigen. Of course, in addition, he also "discovered" the phenomenon of allergies, discovered the phenomenon of immunolysis and other important basic phenomena of immunology, all of which appeared in this material in the form of an "inference" that lacked direct evidence......

It has to be said that John is now very proficient in using both weapons of inference and guessing.

So after learning some immunology knowledge in advance, Ehrlich's mood when he saw this information could only be described as excited, and he almost couldn't wait to nod his head: "Mr. Huntelaar." If you don't mind, I guess I'll go back to the lab now! ”

"Uh...... Of course. ”

After a moment's pause, John smiled and nodded.

Every famous medical scientist in history is probably as fanatical about his own research as Ehrlich, and it is only natural for him to behave like this. But it is precisely because of this that John frees Ehrlich from tedious drug development, because in his opinion, it is very unworthwhile to waste such a big scientist on those small experiments. This bull's energy should be focused on more important theories......

……

Having said goodbye to Ehrlich, John returned to Professor Osler's office.

As the current Big Four of Heinz General Hospital...... Now plus Howard? Kelly should be one of the Big Five after that. Professor Osler's office is certainly not comparable to that of an ordinary physician, and in fact his office is second only to John and Thomas in the entire hospital. Of course, in addition to the size and comfortable decoration, the most important thing in the doctor's office is the books.

When John knocked on the door, Osler was holding a book and reading it.

"Huh? Why are you free to come to me today? ”

Seeing the leisurely John, Professor Osler asked a little strangely.

John shook his head. He said with a smile: "There is no surgery and outpatient clinic today, so I came to talk to you...... I was afraid to disturb your work, but now it seems that it is the right time, haha. "Uh......"

After listening to John's words, Professor Osler couldn't help but be happy. He is the head of the Department of Internal Medicine and the person in charge of the preparation of the School of Medicine. Osler's work is of course very busy, but when he is busy, he will find time to read every day, which has been a habit for many years. John knew this, of course, and said this only for a little teasing.

After a few small talks, John smiled and asked, "Professor, how is your recruitment work going?" ”

"It wasn't particularly smooth."

Shaking his head, Professor Osler shrugged his shoulders and said, "I've written to many old friends and sent invitations, but so far only two have responded positively, and it's an American and a Canadian, and no one in Europe wants to come to New York." ”

"Well, that's to be expected."

After hearing this, John nodded without the slightest surprise.

Compared with Europe today, just like China and the United States in the future, if it were not for famine and war, there would not be so many people emigrating from Europe at all. Even in the past few years, most of the immigrants have the idea of looking for an opportunity to make a fortune back, so it is indeed quite difficult to invite people who are really capable to come.

John had been mentally prepared for this.

But......

John was not disappointed by this, he thought for a while and simply said: "Professor, I don't think I can expect to invite those famous doctors or professors in Europe to find suitable candidates in the United States!" ”

"Oh? What are your thoughts? ”

Professor Osler raised his eyebrows and couldn't help but ask.

"Dig people with one hand, and cultivate them with the other!"

With a wave of his hand, John said without hesitation: "In addition to continuing to invite from Europe, we will focus on poaching people from those old medical schools in North America in the future!" We have the best hospitals and state-of-the-art labs, the most attractive salaries in the world, and New York is attractive enough to invite great physicians from other medical schools in North America! In addition, the selection of young people with potential to study in Europe, and there are still two years before the completion of the medical school, I think it will be enough for them to go further in certain fields, right? ”

"This ......"

Osler was obviously moved in his heart, but his brows quickly furrowed: "Mr. Huntelaar, if you follow your method, you can indeed recruit a group of excellent talents quickly, but the investment required will also be very large!" ”

"Don't worry."

With a smile, John said confidently: "As long as it is the money that should be invested, I will never be stingy!" And don't you know? A new sulfonamide drug has just been discovered at Mr. Ehrlich's Institute, and after half a year of preparation, diphtheria antitoxin serum can also be prepared and marketed on a large scale......" (To be continued. )