HAMBURGERS ACHIEVEMENT WITH EARLY RENAL-TRANSPLANTS

In 1947 Hamburger mapped out his course of action to achieve successfu l renal transplantation and then undertook what he had predicted. His steps were as follows: in 1952, graft of a kidney from a mother to her son, a failure providing more information than any experimental attem pt; in 1959, a transplantation from a non-identical twin to his irradi ated brother, a rare success with this dangerous immunosuppression; in 1964, a successful graft from a dead donor, with Dausset's introducti on of HLA typing to match the donor and the recipient. Hamburger's and Crosnier's endeavours were interwoven with those of other physicians and surgeons: in Paris, Kuss and Legrain, in Boston, Murray and, espec ially, Merrill, with whom Hamburger shared more than a friendship.