IUBio

"Danger" or "Alarm"?

D Forsdyke forsdyke1 at home.com
Thu Feb 24 09:21:28 EST 2000


Jay Mone wrote:
 
> Antibodies are an example of how the idea of self and non-self can blur.

Dear Jay,
         Yes, the immune system does not so much need 
to discriminate between black and white, as between 
shades of grey ... a little bit like self/a little bit 
less like self. Thus, in the 70s the the terms "altered 
self" (see Zinkernagel-Doherty review in Imm. Today 
(1997)18, 14-17), or "near self" (see URL below) were 
introduced, together with the idea of the positive 
selection of expanded clones of anti-"near-self" cells.

Donald Forsdyke. Discussion Leader. Bionet.immunology
http://post.queensu.ca/~forsdyke/lederber.htm#POSITIVE SELECTION




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