Growing up as an Immunologist Among Molecular Geneticists

When I started my independent career as a young medical doctor at the Institute for Genetics in Cologne in 1964, among a faculty of enthusiastic young scientists devoted to the then new field of molecular genetics, my hope to address the basic mysteries of immunology at a similar level was entirely speculative. But the situation changed dramatically over the next three decades, during which we witnessed, and contributed to, the incorporation of basic methods of bacterial and bacteriophage genetics into immunological research, including mutational analysis, ultimately developed into conditional targeted mutagenesis in the mouse. This was accompanied by revolutionary advances in cell separation, the advent of monoclonal antibodies, as well as nucleic acid amplification and sequencing technologies. The present article describes some of the activities of my group in Cologne over these times, focusing on how things got underway in this unique historical context, and along the lines of a lecture given in acceptance of the inaugural EFIS Lifetime Achievement Award in Vienna, 2025.