Klaus Eichmann Köhler s Invention Birkhäuser Verlag Basel Boston Berlin
Prof. Dr. Klaus Eichmann Max-Planck-Institut für Immunbiologie Stübeweg 51 D-79108 Freiburg Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Eichmann, Klaus, 1939 Köhler s invention / Klaus Eichmann. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-3-7643-7173-9 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 3-7643-7173-0 (alk. paper) 1. Köhler, Georges. 2. Immunologists--Germany--Biography. 3. Hybridomas. 4. Monoclonal antibodies. I. Title. QR180.72.K64E33 2005 610.92--dc22 [B] 2005048131 Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.ddb.de ISBN-10: 3-7643-7173-0 Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel - Boston - Berlin ISBN-13: 978-3-7643-7173-9 The publisher and editor can give no guarantee for the information on drug dosage and administration contained in this publication. The respective user must check its accuracy by consulting other sources of reference in each individual case. The use of registered names, trademarks etc. in this publication, even if not identified as such, does not imply that they are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations or free for general use. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. For any kind of use, permission of the copyright owner must be obtained. 2005 Birkhäuser Verlag, P.O. Box 133, CH-4010 Basel, Switzerland Part of Springer Science+Business Media Printed on acid-free paper produced from chlorine-free pulp. TFC Cover design: Micha Lotrovsky, CH-4106 Therwil, Switzerland Cover illustration: Portrait photograph of Georges Köhler (Lore Lay, MPI Freiburg); page from Köhler s lab book (courtesy of Deutsches Museum, Bonn) Printed in Germany ISBN-10: 3-7643-7173-0 ISBN-13: 978-3-7643-7173-9 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 www. birkhauser.ch
Table of contents Part I: The time before Chapter 1. A short history of the antibody problem............. 3 Chapter 2. The immunological scene around Köhler............ 17 Chapter 3. Köhler s entry into science............................ 29 Chapter 4. The quest for monoclonal antibodies................. 38 Chapter 5. Cell fusion............................................. 49 Chapter 6. Köhler in Cambridge.................................. 57 Chapter 7. Back in Basel.......................................... 79 Chapter 8. The patent disaster.................................... 90 Part II: The time after Chapter 9. The Max-Planck-Institute of Immunobiology........ 101 Chapter 10. Getting Köhler to Freiburg........................... 112 Chapter 11. Köhler s Max-Planck-Institute..................... 121 Chapter 12. Human relations....................................... 135 Chapter 13. Post-Nobel science I................................... 148 Chapter 14. Post-Nobel science II.................................. 158 Chapter 15. Köhler s death......................................... 169 Chapter 16. Magic bullet........................................... 173 Chapter 17. The antibody problem today not quite solved...... 185 Appendix A Two lectures given by Georges Köhler to general audiences..... 191 B Prizes and awards to Georges Köhler............................. 200 References and sources................................................ 201 Köhler s complete bibliography....................................... 219
Acknowledgements Writing this book would not have been possible without the help of a number of people and institutions. First of all I am indebted to Marion Kazemi and Eckhard Henning of the Archive of the Max Planck Society, Berlin. They placed the entire collection of Georges Köhler s papers, notebooks, letters, etc., as well as the Köhler files of the Biomedical Section, at my disposal. I am grateful to Sophie Kratsch-Lange and Andrea Niehaus of the German Museum, Bonn, for giving me access to Köhler s notebook containing the first hybridization experiment, and their files on monoclonal antibodies and on Köhler s membership in their Board of Advisors. I have greatly benefited from casual information about Georges which I received informally from numerous mutual colleagues and friends, to whom I express my gratitude collectively. I had the privilege of more extended interviews with Rainer Hertel, Hanjörg Just, Rolf Kemler, Fritz Melchers, Celia Milstein, Michael Reth, David Secher, Davor Solter, and I am deeply grateful to all of them for openly sharing their recollections with me. I respect the wish of Claudia Köhler to not have her personal recollections about her husband, and that of her children about their father, disclosed to the public. My sincere thanks go to Lore Lay, Nele Leibrock, and Celia Milstein, for letting me choose from their collection of photographs. The reproductions of original materials provided by the Construction Department of The Max Planck Society and by the German Museum are gratefully achnowledged. In this book I quoted from original scientific literature of many fellow scientists, some of which I know rather well, and included some original figures, with their kind permission. Nevertheless, the accounts given in this book on the evolution of the antibody problem and of the history of the hybridoma technique is a very personal one and not to be taken as a scientifc review. It is influenced by the attempt I was making to write for a general audience, and by my personal memories and preferences. It required presenting a selective rather than a complete account of the history of the antibody problem and the hybridoma technique, and selection unavoidably results in personally biased points of view. I apologize to all of my colleagues whose work I have neglected to quote, or have quoted in ways that they may not approve of. Last but not least, I am deeply grateful to my editor, Beatrice Menz. Without her continuous encouragement this book would have never been completed. K. Eichmann March, 2005
Part I The time before