Bordet, << bawr DAY, >> Jules-Jean-Baptiste-Vincent (1870-1961), was a Belgian bacteriologist and expert on serology (the analysis of serum, the clear fluid in the blood). Bordet discovered immunity factors in blood serum. This was an important revelation for the diagnosis, control, and treatment of highly contagious diseases. In 1919, Bordet received the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine.
Bordet conducted research at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, into the destruction of bacteria and erythrocytes (red corpuscles) in blood serum. This research contributed greatly to the basis of serology. In 1895, he discovered that two constituents of the serum are accountable for bacteriolysis (the destruction of the cell wall of the bacteria). In 1906, Bordet also cultivated the bacterium that is responsible for whooping cough, Bordetella pertussis.
Bordet was born in Soignies, Belgium, on June 13, 1870. He studied at the University of Brussels. In 1894, he went to work at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. In 1901, Bordet returned to Belgium and then founded the Pasteur Institute in Brussels, where he continued to work until 1940. He died on April 6, 1961.
