Behring, Emil Adolph von

Behring, Emil Adolph von (ā`mēl ä`dōlf fən bâr`ĭng), 1854–1917, German physician. He worked with Kitasato at Koch's laboratory in Berlin and from 1895 was professor of hygiene at Marburg. A pioneer in serum therapy, following the work of P. P. É. Roux, he demonstrated immunization against diphtheria (1890) and tetanus (1892) by injections of antitoxins (a word he introduced) that he developed with Kitasato. For this work he received the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.