Paul Portier (physiologist)

Paul Portier
Born(1866-05-22)22 May 1866
Bar-sur-Seine, France
Died26 January 1962(1962-01-26) (aged 95)
Bourg-la-Reine
NationalityFrench
Alma materUniversity of Paris
Known forDiscovery of anaphylaxis
Symbiogenesis
Scientific career
FieldsPhysiology
InstitutionsUniversity of Paris
Institut océanographique de Paris

Paul Jules Portier (22 May 1866 – 26 January 1962) was a French physiologist who made important contributions to the discovery of anaphylaxis and the development of symbiogenesis.[1][2] On a scientific expedition organised by Albert I, Prince of Monaco, he and Charles Richet discovered that toxins produced by marine animals (cnidarians such as Portuguese man o' war and sea anemone) could induce fatal shocks. They named the medical phenomenon "anaphylaxis," from which Richet went on to receive the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[3] Portier was the first scientist to explain that the cell organelle, mitochondrion, arose by symbiosis according to his evolutionary theory in 1918.[4]

  1. ^ Charton, Barbara (2003). A to Z of Marine Scientists. New York (US): Infobase Publishing. pp. 139–140. ISBN 978-1-4381-0920-6.
  2. ^ May, C. D. (1985). "The ancestry of allergy: being an account of the original experimental induction of hypersensitivity recognizing the contribution of Paul Portier". The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 75 (4): 485–495. doi:10.1016/s0091-6749(85)80022-1. ISSN 0091-6749. PMID 3884689.
  3. ^ Mazana, J.; Ariño, M. R. (1991). "Charles Robert Richet and some milestones in the history of allergies". Journal of Investigational Allergology & Clinical Immunology. 1 (2): 93–100. ISSN 1018-9068. PMID 1669573.
  4. ^ Sapp, Jan (2011). "The dynamics of symbiosis: an historical overview". Canadian Journal of Botany. 82 (8): 1046–1056. doi:10.1139/b04-055.