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Concepts for the development of a quantitative theory of clonal selection and class regulation using lessons from the original
Author(s) -
Hodgkin Philip D
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
immunology and cell biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0818-9641
DOI - 10.1038/sj.icb.7100164
Subject(s) - class (philosophy) , clonal selection , selection (genetic algorithm) , variety (cybernetics) , biology , negative selection , microbiology and biotechnology , computational biology , genetics , epistemology , computer science , immunology , philosophy , artificial intelligence , gene , genome
When Burnet wrote his modification of Jerne's theory he simply wrote—‘It is postulated that when antigen‐(receptor) contact takes place on the surface of a lymphocyte the cell is activated to settle in an appropriate tissue… and there undergo proliferation to produce a variety of descendants’. 1 But studies of ‘activation’ and ‘proliferation’ following receptor contact have turned out to be surprisingly complex—much more complex than the theory apparently requires. It is timely, on this 50th anniversary, to take a closer look at the complexity and highlight some lesser‐known general features of the clonal selection theory and of B cell activation that can be useful in formulating a quantitative version of this theory that includes class regulation and cellular heterogeneity.