The Crossing of the Desert for Invertebrate Immunity (1960–1990)

Abstract: World War II brought Europe to a real halt in terms of development. The same was true for research, often succinct in universities before 1940. This halt was therefore imposed in the still nascent research work in immunology, even at the Pasteur Institute. By 1935, several researchers at the Institute had retired and the war period certainly did not facilitate their replacement. As we have seen, Paillot did not train any students on Insect immunity. It was therefore in the USA in 1950 that this research topic developed. One researcher played a fundamental role in reviving this discipline: Professor E.A. Steinhaus (1914–1969), first head of the Department of Insect Pathology at the University of Berkeley until 1963, then Dean of the Faculty of Biological Sciences on the newly created Irvine campus. He is undoubtedly the man who played a leading role in this new discipline, Insect pathology, and consequently its immunity; he created the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, of which he was the first President.