inoculation, in medicine, introduction of a preparation into the
tissues or fluids of the body for the purpose of preventing or
curing certain diseases. The preparation is usually a weakened
culture of the agent causing the disease, as in vaccination
against smallpox; however, it may also be composed of
antitoxins, which provide immunity themselves, or toxoids, which
are proteins that stimulate the body to produce antitoxins (see
immunity). Various forms of inoculation were used from ancient
times in China, India, and Persia, but it remained for the
English physician Edward Jenner in the late 18th cent. to
demonstrate its feasibility to the Western world. The term
inoculation is used also to refer to the introduction of certain
substances into plant tissues or to the placement of
microorganisms into culture media (for experimental or
diagnostic purposes) or into the soil. The Columbia Electronic
Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University
Press. All rights reserved. More on inoculation from Fa