A few days back I got hold a copy of the book 'The hunt for a killer Virus-Hepatitis B" by Baruch S Blumberg9credited for the discovery of the Australian Antigen). Let me share some of his viewpoints. 1. He discovered the Australian Antigen (the mid to late sixties) while working on Lipoprotein polymorphism in the various ethnic population. He would compare antigenicity of the sera with a reciprocal antibody derived mainly from the sera of a posttransfused patient.
This would be done by Immunodiffusion method where the resultant antigen-antibody precipitin reaction pattern would be compared. While working he discovered that the sera of the certain ethnic population such as the Australian Aborigines reacted with the sera of hemophiliacs from New York. Initially, he regarded this as an example of lipoprotein polymorphism. But given the high incidence of hepatitis in such patients, he…
