Discovery of the MHC

During the first decade of the 20th century, two important advances were made that paved the way to the discovery of the MHC in later years:

1. Loeb and Tyzzer discovered that the resistance and susceptibility to transplantable tumors are genetically determined by at least 15 genes.
2. Inbred strains of mice were developed by Little (DBA/1, DBA/2, C57BL), Bagg (BALB/c) and Strong (CBA and C3H) that facilitated the understanding of transplant biology.