Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Rupert Billingham

  • Sir Peter Medawar and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance

    At Oxford during World War II, Peter Medawar and his colleagues made the remarkable observation that patients pre-treated in early life with embryotic cells did not reject skin grafts from unrelated donors. This gave rise to the concept of acquired immunological tolerance and revolutionized the field of organ transplantation as well as changed our understanding…