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A seminal monograph: Mackay and Burnet's Autoimmune diseases
Author(s) -
RobertsThomson Peter J,
Jackson Michael W,
Gordon Thomas P
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/mja11.10821
Subject(s) - autoimmunity , credence , clonal selection , biology , immunology , philosophy of science , philosophy , epistemology , immune system , computer science , machine learning
Mackay and Burnet's Autoimmune diseases , published in 1962, marked the beginning of autoimmunity as a clinical science and led to the future acceptance of the existence of autoimmunity. While there is still controversy regarding the mechanisms of autoimmunity, the authors’ insightful hypothesis based on clonal selection theory and the emergence of “forbidden clones”, due to somatic mutations, is still current, with recent evidence giving further credence to this hypothesis. We salute Mackay and Burnet on the 50th anniversary of this seminal publication. It is particularly pleasing that it has an iconic Australian origin.