Gaston Ramon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gaston Ramon (September 30, 1886 - June 8, 1963) was a French veterinarian and biologist.

He was born in Bellechaume (Yonne, France) and attended l'École vétérinaire d'Alfort from 1906 to 1910. In 1917 he married Marthe Momont, grand-niece of Emile Roux.

During the 1920's, Ramon made major contributions to the development of effective vaccines for both diphtheria and tetanus. In particular, he developed a method for inactivating the diptheria toxin and the tetanus toxin using formaldehyde which, in its essentials, is still used in vaccines manufactured today. He also developed a method for determining the potency of the vaccines, an essential element required for the reproducible production of these pharmaceuticals.

Reference:

Ebisawa, I. 1987. The encounter of Gaston Ramon (1886-1963) with formalin: A biographical study of a great scientist. Kitasato Archives of Experimental Medicine 60 (3): 55-70.