Emil Adolf Behring was a renowned German physiologist who was the first recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Born to a family of moderate means, Emil was at the verge of pursuing a career in theology but in a fateful turn of events he was able to earn a scholarship to the military medical institution. After completing his education he served for the mandated ten years, initially as an assistant surgeon. He also contributed much of his time to research and began studying the disinfectant iodoform. He studied the effects the disinfectant has on toxins released by microorganisms and ascribed its action as anti-toxic rather than being microbicidal. He then moved to Bonn where he trained under Carl Binz, a renowned German physician. Binz guided Behring on the finer nuances of conducting experiments on microorganisms and toxicology. This inquiring mind then set about developing an antitoxin for the widespread epidemic of diphtheria. He collaborated with Shibasaburo Kitasato and conducted research on rat species immune to tetanus thus making a ground-breaking discovery. The serum obtained from the immune species when injected into a patient afflicted with tetanus, created resistance against the disease in the latter. This discovery earned him a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Read on to know more about his life and works.