Thomas Pradeu
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199775286
- eISBN:
- 9780199932818
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199775286.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Metaphysics/Epistemology
What counts as an individual in the living world? What does it mean for a living thing to remain the same through time while constantly changing? Immunology, one of the most dynamic fields of today’s ...
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What counts as an individual in the living world? What does it mean for a living thing to remain the same through time while constantly changing? Immunology, one of the most dynamic fields of today’s biology, considers these questions its province, and answers them through its crucial concepts of “self” and “nonself.” Though immunology has been dominated since the 1940s by the self-nonself theory, this book argues that this theory is inadequate, because immune responses to self constituents and immune tolerance of foreign entities are the rule, not the exception. An alternative theory, the continuity theory, is advanced instead. This theory offers a new way to answer the question of what triggers an immune response. It also echoes the recent realization that all organisms, and not higher vertebrates only, have an immune system. This book’s main thesis is that the self-nonself theory should be abandoned, but that immunology still proves to be decisive for delineating the boundaries of the organism. Articulating an evolutionary and an immunological perspective, it offers an original conception of the organism. Tolerance of the fetus by the mother and of countless bacteria on the body’s surfaces proves that every organism is heterogeneous, that is, made of entities of different origins. In other words, every organism appears as a chimera, a mixed living thing the cohesiveness of which is ensured by the constant action of its immune system. The Limits of the Self will be essential reading for anyone interested in the definition of biological individuality and the understanding of the immune system.Less
What counts as an individual in the living world? What does it mean for a living thing to remain the same through time while constantly changing? Immunology, one of the most dynamic fields of today’s biology, considers these questions its province, and answers them through its crucial concepts of “self” and “nonself.” Though immunology has been dominated since the 1940s by the self-nonself theory, this book argues that this theory is inadequate, because immune responses to self constituents and immune tolerance of foreign entities are the rule, not the exception. An alternative theory, the continuity theory, is advanced instead. This theory offers a new way to answer the question of what triggers an immune response. It also echoes the recent realization that all organisms, and not higher vertebrates only, have an immune system. This book’s main thesis is that the self-nonself theory should be abandoned, but that immunology still proves to be decisive for delineating the boundaries of the organism. Articulating an evolutionary and an immunological perspective, it offers an original conception of the organism. Tolerance of the fetus by the mother and of countless bacteria on the body’s surfaces proves that every organism is heterogeneous, that is, made of entities of different origins. In other words, every organism appears as a chimera, a mixed living thing the cohesiveness of which is ensured by the constant action of its immune system. The Limits of the Self will be essential reading for anyone interested in the definition of biological individuality and the understanding of the immune system.
Zbigniew Zylicz, Robert Twycross, and E. Anthony Jones (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198525103
- eISBN:
- 9780191730238
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198525103.001.0001
- Subject:
- Palliative Care, Patient Care and End-of-Life Decision Making
Pruritus is a prevalent symptom in many skin conditions. However, much less is known about pruritus unassociated with primary skin disease. This latter problem is of major relevance to most medical ...
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Pruritus is a prevalent symptom in many skin conditions. However, much less is known about pruritus unassociated with primary skin disease. This latter problem is of major relevance to most medical specialties, notably palliative care, haematology, oncology, internal medicine, hepatology, nephrology, anaesthesiology, immunology, and psychiatry. Specialists in these non-dermatological disciplines each see a few patients with severe pruritus and, therefore have only limited possibilities to learn from their personal experience. In response to the need for information on pruritus in non-dermatological disciplines, this book aims to build a bridge of relevant knowledge and evidence between the various non-dermatological specialties. Pruritus can cause considerable discomfort in patients with cancer, patients receiving treatment for cancer, and patients with non-malignant terminal illnesses. Some knowledge about the pathophysiology of certain types of pruritus exists in different clinical specialties. This book brings this information together. An international group of contributors cover the neurophysiology and clinical assessment of pruritus, the measurement of scratching activity as well as opioid-induced pruritus, pruritus in haematological disorders, neuropathic pruritus and psychogenic pruritus, and the treatment of pruritus in these different clinical settings.Less
Pruritus is a prevalent symptom in many skin conditions. However, much less is known about pruritus unassociated with primary skin disease. This latter problem is of major relevance to most medical specialties, notably palliative care, haematology, oncology, internal medicine, hepatology, nephrology, anaesthesiology, immunology, and psychiatry. Specialists in these non-dermatological disciplines each see a few patients with severe pruritus and, therefore have only limited possibilities to learn from their personal experience. In response to the need for information on pruritus in non-dermatological disciplines, this book aims to build a bridge of relevant knowledge and evidence between the various non-dermatological specialties. Pruritus can cause considerable discomfort in patients with cancer, patients receiving treatment for cancer, and patients with non-malignant terminal illnesses. Some knowledge about the pathophysiology of certain types of pruritus exists in different clinical specialties. This book brings this information together. An international group of contributors cover the neurophysiology and clinical assessment of pruritus, the measurement of scratching activity as well as opioid-induced pruritus, pruritus in haematological disorders, neuropathic pruritus and psychogenic pruritus, and the treatment of pruritus in these different clinical settings.
William R. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195336634
- eISBN:
- 9780199868568
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336634.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Disease Ecology / Epidemiology
AIDS presents one of the greatest medical and scientific challenges of the past sixty years. This chapter examines AIDS as a medical problem, as a problem in virology, and from an immunological point ...
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AIDS presents one of the greatest medical and scientific challenges of the past sixty years. This chapter examines AIDS as a medical problem, as a problem in virology, and from an immunological point of view. Current approaches to dealing with AIDS have dramatically improved survival rates, but long-term survival has not been achieved. Treatments are hugely expensive, have unacceptable side effects, and have had minimal impact outside of first-world countries. The chapter thus also looks at future directions for AIDS research, including gene-therapy approaches, and DNA-based vaccines.Less
AIDS presents one of the greatest medical and scientific challenges of the past sixty years. This chapter examines AIDS as a medical problem, as a problem in virology, and from an immunological point of view. Current approaches to dealing with AIDS have dramatically improved survival rates, but long-term survival has not been achieved. Treatments are hugely expensive, have unacceptable side effects, and have had minimal impact outside of first-world countries. The chapter thus also looks at future directions for AIDS research, including gene-therapy approaches, and DNA-based vaccines.
Stephen J. Simpson and David Raubenheimer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691145655
- eISBN:
- 9781400842803
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145655.003.0011
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology
This concluding chapter looks at some of the big issues that remain in nutritional biology. Exploding protein into its constituent amino acids means having to deal with 19 extra dimensions, which is ...
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This concluding chapter looks at some of the big issues that remain in nutritional biology. Exploding protein into its constituent amino acids means having to deal with 19 extra dimensions, which is fine in theory but daunting in practice. However, such an expansion is what will be needed to understand the mechanisms of protein appetite, the role of protein in aging, obesity, and immune function, or the behavioral and metabolic consequences of replacing marine-based animal proteins with plant-derived alternatives in the diets of farmed fish. The next step will be to associate primary response variables such as life span, disease susceptibility, and fecundity with associated physiological, metabolic, and geometric responses. Other issues include nutritional epigenetics and early-life prevention of metabolic disease, human obesity, nutritional immunology, and modeling nutritional interactions.Less
This concluding chapter looks at some of the big issues that remain in nutritional biology. Exploding protein into its constituent amino acids means having to deal with 19 extra dimensions, which is fine in theory but daunting in practice. However, such an expansion is what will be needed to understand the mechanisms of protein appetite, the role of protein in aging, obesity, and immune function, or the behavioral and metabolic consequences of replacing marine-based animal proteins with plant-derived alternatives in the diets of farmed fish. The next step will be to associate primary response variables such as life span, disease susceptibility, and fecundity with associated physiological, metabolic, and geometric responses. Other issues include nutritional epigenetics and early-life prevention of metabolic disease, human obesity, nutritional immunology, and modeling nutritional interactions.
Paul U. Unschuld
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520257658
- eISBN:
- 9780520944701
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520257658.003.0093
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has had a reassuring effect on Western nations, came from China and some parts of Japan and Korea. The Chinese were needed as technicians in Western private ...
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Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has had a reassuring effect on Western nations, came from China and some parts of Japan and Korea. The Chinese were needed as technicians in Western private clinics. There, they were skilful helpers. However, the fears of the citizens of industrialized Western nations were foreign to them. Tailoring so-called Chinese medicine to these fears is something they could not and perhaps still cannot manage. Modern immunology offered enough of war in the humans' bodies, not so much by the immunologists themselves, but by their interpreters: science journalists. For most people, the encounter with a potentially fatal illness is the most existential threat there is. No one wants to experience war in their own house, much less in their own body. At a time of existential fear, what is wanted is to feel warmth, empathy, and harmony. This is what TCM offers. It seems reassuring.Less
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has had a reassuring effect on Western nations, came from China and some parts of Japan and Korea. The Chinese were needed as technicians in Western private clinics. There, they were skilful helpers. However, the fears of the citizens of industrialized Western nations were foreign to them. Tailoring so-called Chinese medicine to these fears is something they could not and perhaps still cannot manage. Modern immunology offered enough of war in the humans' bodies, not so much by the immunologists themselves, but by their interpreters: science journalists. For most people, the encounter with a potentially fatal illness is the most existential threat there is. No one wants to experience war in their own house, much less in their own body. At a time of existential fear, what is wanted is to feel warmth, empathy, and harmony. This is what TCM offers. It seems reassuring.
Alfred I. Tauber
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190651244
- eISBN:
- 9780190651275
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190651244.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
Immunology is the science of biological identity. Three key characteristics—individuality, identification, and immunity—together define immune identity, and as one notion changes meaning, so do the ...
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Immunology is the science of biological identity. Three key characteristics—individuality, identification, and immunity—together define immune identity, and as one notion changes meaning, so do the others. The story of this mutual dependence begins with the discovery of infectious diseases, when immunity, conceived as the response to invading pathogens, focused on the infected patient—later formalized as the “immune self.” That orientation, signifying autonomy much in line with cultural norms of individuality, dominated twentieth-century immune theory. Although an effective idiom, the self construct has proven inadequate to account for the organism’s normal physiology and exchanges with the environment. When integrated into its larger ecology, immunity’s governing model shifts from defense to the more basic cognitive function of information processing that discerns benign from the toxic. The effector function (assimilate or eliminate) only follows identification of the immune object. Moreover, as a cognitive–communicative system (analogous to the brain), the immune system’s various roles assume their full expression only when the organism is considered in its total environment—“internal” and “external.” From this perspective, beyond defending an insular individual, immunity accounts for the organism’s mutualist relationships that characterize the holobiont, where lines of demarcation are blurred. In response to this ecologically informed conception of the individual, the idea of immunity correspondingly widens. The implications of this revised configuration of immunity and its deconstructed notions of individuality and selfhood have wide significance for philosophers and life scientists working in immunology, ecology, and the cognitive sciences.Less
Immunology is the science of biological identity. Three key characteristics—individuality, identification, and immunity—together define immune identity, and as one notion changes meaning, so do the others. The story of this mutual dependence begins with the discovery of infectious diseases, when immunity, conceived as the response to invading pathogens, focused on the infected patient—later formalized as the “immune self.” That orientation, signifying autonomy much in line with cultural norms of individuality, dominated twentieth-century immune theory. Although an effective idiom, the self construct has proven inadequate to account for the organism’s normal physiology and exchanges with the environment. When integrated into its larger ecology, immunity’s governing model shifts from defense to the more basic cognitive function of information processing that discerns benign from the toxic. The effector function (assimilate or eliminate) only follows identification of the immune object. Moreover, as a cognitive–communicative system (analogous to the brain), the immune system’s various roles assume their full expression only when the organism is considered in its total environment—“internal” and “external.” From this perspective, beyond defending an insular individual, immunity accounts for the organism’s mutualist relationships that characterize the holobiont, where lines of demarcation are blurred. In response to this ecologically informed conception of the individual, the idea of immunity correspondingly widens. The implications of this revised configuration of immunity and its deconstructed notions of individuality and selfhood have wide significance for philosophers and life scientists working in immunology, ecology, and the cognitive sciences.
A. David Napier
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226568126
- eISBN:
- 9780226568140
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226568140.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This book argues that the central assumption of immunology—that we survive through the recognition and elimination of non-self—has become a defining concept of the modern age. Tracing this ...
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This book argues that the central assumption of immunology—that we survive through the recognition and elimination of non-self—has become a defining concept of the modern age. Tracing this immunological understanding of self and other through an incredibly diverse array of venues, from medical research to legal and military strategies and the electronic revolution, the author shows how this defensive way of looking at the world not only destroys diversity but also eliminates the possibility of truly engaging difference, thereby impoverishing our culture and foreclosing tremendous opportunities for personal growth. To illustrate these destructive consequences, he likens the current craze for embracing diversity and the use of politically correct speech to a cultural potluck to which we each bring different dishes, but at which no one can eat unless they abide by the same rules. Similarly, loaning money to developing nations serves as a tool both to make the peoples in those nations more like us and to maintain them in the nonthreatening status of distant dependents. To break free of the resulting downward spiral of homogenization and self-focus, the author suggests that we instead adopt a new defining concept based on embryology, in which development and self-growth take place through a process of incorporation and transformation. In this effort he suggests that we have much to learn from non-Western peoples, such as the Balinese, whose ritual practices require them to take on the considerable risk of injecting into their selves the potential dangers of otherness—and in so doing ultimately strengthen themselves as well as their society.Less
This book argues that the central assumption of immunology—that we survive through the recognition and elimination of non-self—has become a defining concept of the modern age. Tracing this immunological understanding of self and other through an incredibly diverse array of venues, from medical research to legal and military strategies and the electronic revolution, the author shows how this defensive way of looking at the world not only destroys diversity but also eliminates the possibility of truly engaging difference, thereby impoverishing our culture and foreclosing tremendous opportunities for personal growth. To illustrate these destructive consequences, he likens the current craze for embracing diversity and the use of politically correct speech to a cultural potluck to which we each bring different dishes, but at which no one can eat unless they abide by the same rules. Similarly, loaning money to developing nations serves as a tool both to make the peoples in those nations more like us and to maintain them in the nonthreatening status of distant dependents. To break free of the resulting downward spiral of homogenization and self-focus, the author suggests that we instead adopt a new defining concept based on embryology, in which development and self-growth take place through a process of incorporation and transformation. In this effort he suggests that we have much to learn from non-Western peoples, such as the Balinese, whose ritual practices require them to take on the considerable risk of injecting into their selves the potential dangers of otherness—and in so doing ultimately strengthen themselves as well as their society.
Mervyn Susser and Zena Stein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195300666
- eISBN:
- 9780199863754
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300666.003.0022
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter focuses on the epidemiology of infectious diseases. By the end of the 19th century, the significant role of microorganisms in many diseases of humans and other species was ...
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This chapter focuses on the epidemiology of infectious diseases. By the end of the 19th century, the significant role of microorganisms in many diseases of humans and other species was incontrovertible. The ground had been prepared for the enormous strides in the understanding of infectious diseases, especially with respect to agent and host, which followed in the 20th century. The unraveling of the nature of microorganisms and their role in disease, the mechanisms of immunity, recognition of the existence of viruses and their dependence on living matter for survival, led to the scientific development of the virtually new discipline of molecular immunology, to the rising potential for the control of microorganisms, and ultimately to paradigmatic shifts in the practice of public health. Having faced, understood, and at last found means to quell such great scourges as smallpox, the plague, syphilis, cholera, and typhoid, the major threats posed by infectious disease seemed to have subsided. Late in the 20th century, however, newly emerging diseases, and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in particular, challenged medicine and the public health anew.Less
This chapter focuses on the epidemiology of infectious diseases. By the end of the 19th century, the significant role of microorganisms in many diseases of humans and other species was incontrovertible. The ground had been prepared for the enormous strides in the understanding of infectious diseases, especially with respect to agent and host, which followed in the 20th century. The unraveling of the nature of microorganisms and their role in disease, the mechanisms of immunity, recognition of the existence of viruses and their dependence on living matter for survival, led to the scientific development of the virtually new discipline of molecular immunology, to the rising potential for the control of microorganisms, and ultimately to paradigmatic shifts in the practice of public health. Having faced, understood, and at last found means to quell such great scourges as smallpox, the plague, syphilis, cholera, and typhoid, the major threats posed by infectious disease seemed to have subsided. Late in the 20th century, however, newly emerging diseases, and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in particular, challenged medicine and the public health anew.
Paul Schmid-Hempel
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- December 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199229482
- eISBN:
- 9780191774744
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199229482.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Disease Ecology / Epidemiology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Over the last decade, principles from evolution and ecology have increasingly been applied to the fields of parasitology and immunology in an attempt to foster a common conceptual framework that uses ...
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Over the last decade, principles from evolution and ecology have increasingly been applied to the fields of parasitology and immunology in an attempt to foster a common conceptual framework that uses a priori principles to unravel the diversity of host–parasite phenomena. This has led to the emergence of some of the most important, highly successful and inter-disciplinary areas of modern biology – the as-yet separated fields of ecological immunology and evolutionary studies of parasitism. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the many facets of host’parasite interactions, from the molecular bases to adaptive strategies and their ecological and evolutionary consequences. It is informed by the very latest progress in the field. No longer do we view well-adapted parasites as becoming ultimately harmless. On the contrary, parasite virulence is determined both by the processes that lead to harm and by the evolutionary costs and benefits of this damage. Similarly, parasitism is no longer regarded as being inevitably deleterious; rather it can be a major factor maintaining diversity in populations and communities, selecting for beautiful plumages of birds, or even making us more social. The book integrates material from a wide range of topics including immunology, genetics, sexual selection, population ecology, behavioural ecology, and evolutionary biology.Less
Over the last decade, principles from evolution and ecology have increasingly been applied to the fields of parasitology and immunology in an attempt to foster a common conceptual framework that uses a priori principles to unravel the diversity of host–parasite phenomena. This has led to the emergence of some of the most important, highly successful and inter-disciplinary areas of modern biology – the as-yet separated fields of ecological immunology and evolutionary studies of parasitism. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the many facets of host’parasite interactions, from the molecular bases to adaptive strategies and their ecological and evolutionary consequences. It is informed by the very latest progress in the field. No longer do we view well-adapted parasites as becoming ultimately harmless. On the contrary, parasite virulence is determined both by the processes that lead to harm and by the evolutionary costs and benefits of this damage. Similarly, parasitism is no longer regarded as being inevitably deleterious; rather it can be a major factor maintaining diversity in populations and communities, selecting for beautiful plumages of birds, or even making us more social. The book integrates material from a wide range of topics including immunology, genetics, sexual selection, population ecology, behavioural ecology, and evolutionary biology.
Pejman Rohani and Samuel Scarpino (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198811879
- eISBN:
- 9780191850011
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811879.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Disease Ecology / Epidemiology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a respiratory disease caused primarily by infection with the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. It remains one of the leading causes of death among vaccine-preventable ...
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Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a respiratory disease caused primarily by infection with the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. It remains one of the leading causes of death among vaccine-preventable diseases worldwide and recent years have seen its alarming re-emergence in many regions (including the United States and much of Europe), despite sustained high levels of vaccine coverage. The causes of the resurgence remain contentious, in part due to inherent complexities of the pathogen’s biology, in part due to pronounced variation in the treatment and prevention strategies between different countries and regions, and in part due to long-standing disagreement among scientific researchers studying pertussis. This edited volume brings together expert knowledge from disparate fields with the overall aim of synthesizing the current understanding of this critically important, global pathogen. Pertussis: Epidemiology, Immunology, and Evolution is an advanced text suitable for graduate-level students taking courses in evolutionary epidemiology, disease ecology, and evolutionary biology, as well as academics, public health officials, and researchers in these fields. It also offers a very useful introduction to a wider audience of public health practitioners, microbiologists, epidemiologists, medical professionals, and vaccine biologistsLess
Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a respiratory disease caused primarily by infection with the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. It remains one of the leading causes of death among vaccine-preventable diseases worldwide and recent years have seen its alarming re-emergence in many regions (including the United States and much of Europe), despite sustained high levels of vaccine coverage. The causes of the resurgence remain contentious, in part due to inherent complexities of the pathogen’s biology, in part due to pronounced variation in the treatment and prevention strategies between different countries and regions, and in part due to long-standing disagreement among scientific researchers studying pertussis. This edited volume brings together expert knowledge from disparate fields with the overall aim of synthesizing the current understanding of this critically important, global pathogen. Pertussis: Epidemiology, Immunology, and Evolution is an advanced text suitable for graduate-level students taking courses in evolutionary epidemiology, disease ecology, and evolutionary biology, as well as academics, public health officials, and researchers in these fields. It also offers a very useful introduction to a wider audience of public health practitioners, microbiologists, epidemiologists, medical professionals, and vaccine biologists
Spencer V. Nyholm and Margaret J. McFall-Ngai
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199671427
- eISBN:
- 9780191781117
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199671427.003.0017
- Subject:
- Biology, Developmental Biology
Advances in molecular biology over the last decade have enabled researchers to identify and characterize microbial partners that live in association with animals. These data have indicated that ...
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Advances in molecular biology over the last decade have enabled researchers to identify and characterize microbial partners that live in association with animals. These data have indicated that symbiosis is the rule rather than the exception among animals and that interactions with microbes are essential for animal health. This chapter focuses on what we have learned about how such associations influence animal developmental programs. The chapter first considers the‘fingerprin’ of evolutionary circumstances on development of particular animal features. Specifically, the selective forces that have shaped the development of form and function of the immune and digestive systems over evolutionary history are likely to have been strongly influenced by the radiation of animal phyla in the microbe-rich marine environment. The subsequent sections of the chapter consider what biologists have learned and are learning about how microbes influence each stage of development, from the egg through maturation to the adult animal. Particular emphasis is placed on recent findings on the impact of symbiosis on gut development, immunology, brain development, and normal behaviour of the animal host.Less
Advances in molecular biology over the last decade have enabled researchers to identify and characterize microbial partners that live in association with animals. These data have indicated that symbiosis is the rule rather than the exception among animals and that interactions with microbes are essential for animal health. This chapter focuses on what we have learned about how such associations influence animal developmental programs. The chapter first considers the‘fingerprin’ of evolutionary circumstances on development of particular animal features. Specifically, the selective forces that have shaped the development of form and function of the immune and digestive systems over evolutionary history are likely to have been strongly influenced by the radiation of animal phyla in the microbe-rich marine environment. The subsequent sections of the chapter consider what biologists have learned and are learning about how microbes influence each stage of development, from the egg through maturation to the adult animal. Particular emphasis is placed on recent findings on the impact of symbiosis on gut development, immunology, brain development, and normal behaviour of the animal host.
Thomas Soderqvist
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300094411
- eISBN:
- 9780300128710
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300094411.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This biography probes the unusual mind, the dramatic life, and the outstanding scientific work of Danish-born immunologist Niels Jerne. Jerne's Nobel Prize-winning achievements in the field of ...
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This biography probes the unusual mind, the dramatic life, and the outstanding scientific work of Danish-born immunologist Niels Jerne. Jerne's Nobel Prize-winning achievements in the field of immunology place him in the pantheon of great twentieth-century biomedical theorists, yet his life is perhaps even more interesting than his science. A legendary figure who preferred an afternoon of conversation in a Paris wine bar to work in the laboratory, Jerne was renowned for his unparalleled powers of concentration and analytical keenness as well as his dissonant personal life. The book explores Jerne the man and scientist, making the fascinating argument that his life experience and view of himself became a metaphorical resource for the construction of his theories. The book also probes the moral issues that surrounded Jerne's choice to sacrifice his family in favor of scientific goals and the pursuit of excellence.Less
This biography probes the unusual mind, the dramatic life, and the outstanding scientific work of Danish-born immunologist Niels Jerne. Jerne's Nobel Prize-winning achievements in the field of immunology place him in the pantheon of great twentieth-century biomedical theorists, yet his life is perhaps even more interesting than his science. A legendary figure who preferred an afternoon of conversation in a Paris wine bar to work in the laboratory, Jerne was renowned for his unparalleled powers of concentration and analytical keenness as well as his dissonant personal life. The book explores Jerne the man and scientist, making the fascinating argument that his life experience and view of himself became a metaphorical resource for the construction of his theories. The book also probes the moral issues that surrounded Jerne's choice to sacrifice his family in favor of scientific goals and the pursuit of excellence.
Paul Schmid-Hempel
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- December 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199229482
- eISBN:
- 9780191774744
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199229482.003.0005
- Subject:
- Biology, Disease Ecology / Epidemiology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter talks about certain observations and conclusions arrived at through the study of ecological immunology. The rate of parasitism and the level of immune response, for example, are often ...
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This chapter talks about certain observations and conclusions arrived at through the study of ecological immunology. The rate of parasitism and the level of immune response, for example, are often varied among individuals and populations. This variation, however, can be explained by ecological or demographic factors. The chapter also looks at the various costs that immune defences incur, including the cost of evolving and maintaining a defence, and the cost of using defence. It looks at the limiting resources for immune defences – energy, food, and nutrients – and how the capacity to immune-defend affects host fitness, where organisms face the problem of how to allocate their limited resources to defend, versus other demands, in order to achieve a maximum possible fitness. Finally, the chapter looks at the various elements of defence, namely resistance and tolerance. Resistance is where hosts reduce parasite numbers, while tolerance is where the damage caused by the infection is limited.Less
This chapter talks about certain observations and conclusions arrived at through the study of ecological immunology. The rate of parasitism and the level of immune response, for example, are often varied among individuals and populations. This variation, however, can be explained by ecological or demographic factors. The chapter also looks at the various costs that immune defences incur, including the cost of evolving and maintaining a defence, and the cost of using defence. It looks at the limiting resources for immune defences – energy, food, and nutrients – and how the capacity to immune-defend affects host fitness, where organisms face the problem of how to allocate their limited resources to defend, versus other demands, in order to achieve a maximum possible fitness. Finally, the chapter looks at the various elements of defence, namely resistance and tolerance. Resistance is where hosts reduce parasite numbers, while tolerance is where the damage caused by the infection is limited.
Thomas Söderqvist
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300094411
- eISBN:
- 9780300128710
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300094411.003.0016
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter focuses on Niels Jerne's visit to California. Adda was accompanying him, but the children, now aged twelve and eighteen, would remain in Denmark, and the apartment on Amaliegade would be ...
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This chapter focuses on Niels Jerne's visit to California. Adda was accompanying him, but the children, now aged twelve and eighteen, would remain in Denmark, and the apartment on Amaliegade would be rented out. His many books and Tjek's paintings made the apartment Jerne's umbilical cord to Denmark and a reflection of his life history:“Don't let it catch fire,” he allegedly said when leaving, “because if it catches fire I don't come back—this is my life.” He had looked forward to discussing his selection theory with Max Delbruck during the transatlantic crossing, but nothing came of it. Delbruck is supposed to have defended himself by saying that he could not discuss immunology because he didn't know anything about the subject, at which point Jerne began to ask himself why Delbruck wanted him in California at all.Less
This chapter focuses on Niels Jerne's visit to California. Adda was accompanying him, but the children, now aged twelve and eighteen, would remain in Denmark, and the apartment on Amaliegade would be rented out. His many books and Tjek's paintings made the apartment Jerne's umbilical cord to Denmark and a reflection of his life history:“Don't let it catch fire,” he allegedly said when leaving, “because if it catches fire I don't come back—this is my life.” He had looked forward to discussing his selection theory with Max Delbruck during the transatlantic crossing, but nothing came of it. Delbruck is supposed to have defended himself by saying that he could not discuss immunology because he didn't know anything about the subject, at which point Jerne began to ask himself why Delbruck wanted him in California at all.
Thomas Söderqvist
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300094411
- eISBN:
- 9780300128710
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300094411.003.0020
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter shows how Niels Jerne viewed the Paul Ehrlich Institute. To him, it was an “ancient institute” where most people went home at four in the afternoon and almost nobody carried on any ...
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This chapter shows how Niels Jerne viewed the Paul Ehrlich Institute. To him, it was an “ancient institute” where most people went home at four in the afternoon and almost nobody carried on any research alongside the work of standardization and testing: “They didn't want to do science at all.” He therefore set to work on a major housecleaning—to throw aside the traditional German academic hierarchies and rituals that stood in the way of his mission to modernize European immunology. He wanted to establish an institute where, as a younger assistant expressed it, you “could ask any question” and where “nothing was considered stupid.” The memorial hall, devoted to the memory of Paul Ehrlich, was converted to a seminar room where Jerne held an “antibody workshop” with his new colleagues under the heading “Continuation of the Discussion, Opened by Professor Ehrlich, on Antibodies and Their Formation.” .Less
This chapter shows how Niels Jerne viewed the Paul Ehrlich Institute. To him, it was an “ancient institute” where most people went home at four in the afternoon and almost nobody carried on any research alongside the work of standardization and testing: “They didn't want to do science at all.” He therefore set to work on a major housecleaning—to throw aside the traditional German academic hierarchies and rituals that stood in the way of his mission to modernize European immunology. He wanted to establish an institute where, as a younger assistant expressed it, you “could ask any question” and where “nothing was considered stupid.” The memorial hall, devoted to the memory of Paul Ehrlich, was converted to a seminar room where Jerne held an “antibody workshop” with his new colleagues under the heading “Continuation of the Discussion, Opened by Professor Ehrlich, on Antibodies and Their Formation.” .
Thomas Söderqvist
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300094411
- eISBN:
- 9780300128710
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300094411.003.0021
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter describes the enormous efforts Niels Jerne had invested in setting up the Basel Institute for Immunology. Some questioned whether Jerne would be able to continue without establishing a ...
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This chapter describes the enormous efforts Niels Jerne had invested in setting up the Basel Institute for Immunology. Some questioned whether Jerne would be able to continue without establishing a more hierarchical organization. John Humphrey thought his friend was running the institute as “a scientific commune,” with the Taborites and the Levellers as models, and imagined, as an inevitable outcome, that “sooner or later a pyramidal structure will evolve.” However, Jerne was to remain in Basel almost ten years and would hold firmly to his vision of the communicative network in which everyone was to participate in the intellectual life. For many years, even the laboratory technicians took part in the research seminars and were generally given significantly greater responsibility for their work assignments than was customary, especially in comparison with their Roche counterparts.Less
This chapter describes the enormous efforts Niels Jerne had invested in setting up the Basel Institute for Immunology. Some questioned whether Jerne would be able to continue without establishing a more hierarchical organization. John Humphrey thought his friend was running the institute as “a scientific commune,” with the Taborites and the Levellers as models, and imagined, as an inevitable outcome, that “sooner or later a pyramidal structure will evolve.” However, Jerne was to remain in Basel almost ten years and would hold firmly to his vision of the communicative network in which everyone was to participate in the intellectual life. For many years, even the laboratory technicians took part in the research seminars and were generally given significantly greater responsibility for their work assignments than was customary, especially in comparison with their Roche counterparts.
Thomas Söderqvist
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300094411
- eISBN:
- 9780300128710
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300094411.003.0022
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter focuses on the time of Niels Jerne's retirement, after more than a decade as director of the Basel Institute. Roche asked Fritz Melchers, who had been at the institute almost since its ...
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This chapter focuses on the time of Niels Jerne's retirement, after more than a decade as director of the Basel Institute. Roche asked Fritz Melchers, who had been at the institute almost since its start, to take over the post. Jerne was sixty-eight years old, and despite two or three packs of cigarettes a day and ever increasing alcohol consumption, he was still in full vigor. For about a year, he functioned as conseiller general of the Pasteur Institute's new Department of Immunology, but he was not comfortable there. Instead he moved permanently to his summer residence in Languedoc with his young wife, Alexandra, who for many years had lived alone for long periods in Chateau de Bellevue. In France, he had more time to read, as usual on the most diverse subjects—everything from Marshall Berman's Marxist critique of modernity, All That Is Solid Melts into Air, to Nicolas Schoffer's La theorie des miroirs, a book that reinforced his vision of the immune system as an endless hall of mirrors.Less
This chapter focuses on the time of Niels Jerne's retirement, after more than a decade as director of the Basel Institute. Roche asked Fritz Melchers, who had been at the institute almost since its start, to take over the post. Jerne was sixty-eight years old, and despite two or three packs of cigarettes a day and ever increasing alcohol consumption, he was still in full vigor. For about a year, he functioned as conseiller general of the Pasteur Institute's new Department of Immunology, but he was not comfortable there. Instead he moved permanently to his summer residence in Languedoc with his young wife, Alexandra, who for many years had lived alone for long periods in Chateau de Bellevue. In France, he had more time to read, as usual on the most diverse subjects—everything from Marshall Berman's Marxist critique of modernity, All That Is Solid Melts into Air, to Nicolas Schoffer's La theorie des miroirs, a book that reinforced his vision of the immune system as an endless hall of mirrors.
Thomas Söderqvist
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300094411
- eISBN:
- 9780300128710
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300094411.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter discusses Niels Jerne's intention to write an autobiography. He came close to doing so in 1985, six months after receiving the Nobel Prize. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation wanted to ...
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This chapter discusses Niels Jerne's intention to write an autobiography. He came close to doing so in 1985, six months after receiving the Nobel Prize. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation wanted to include him in a series of current outstanding scientists, a project for which he would be well paid. Nevertheless, Jerne hesitated. He was not sure, he wrote, whether it made sense to write an autobiography at a time when there were so many scientists. In particular he wondered where to begin: “The point of my story is that, quadrilingual by…education and steeped in fantasies about randomness and diversity, I came face to face with immunology when I was forty years old and found that she needed a new look.” .Less
This chapter discusses Niels Jerne's intention to write an autobiography. He came close to doing so in 1985, six months after receiving the Nobel Prize. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation wanted to include him in a series of current outstanding scientists, a project for which he would be well paid. Nevertheless, Jerne hesitated. He was not sure, he wrote, whether it made sense to write an autobiography at a time when there were so many scientists. In particular he wondered where to begin: “The point of my story is that, quadrilingual by…education and steeped in fantasies about randomness and diversity, I came face to face with immunology when I was forty years old and found that she needed a new look.” .
Jacob Pitcovski, Ehud Shahar, and Avigdor Cahaner
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300209549
- eISBN:
- 9780300228038
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300209549.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter first illustrates how a large number of observations can inform the design of a particular experiment intended to test rigorously the causes of the observed associations. It does so ...
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This chapter first illustrates how a large number of observations can inform the design of a particular experiment intended to test rigorously the causes of the observed associations. It does so through the discussion and analysis of two case studies drawn from experimental immunology: (i) the efficacy of vaccines for Newcastle disease virus in poultry, and (ii) cancer immunotherapy. It then shows that it is important when repeating experiments to reproduce not only the expected result (i.e., the estimated mean value) but also to reduce the variability in estimates of the mean. Reduction in overall variance can be accomplished both with more precise measurements and by accounting for additional sources of error (covariates or “nuisance” variables). When potentially important covariates are recorded during an experiment, they can be included in the analysis of the data and help to isolate the true “signal” of the experimental treatment from the “noise” of the experimental environment.Less
This chapter first illustrates how a large number of observations can inform the design of a particular experiment intended to test rigorously the causes of the observed associations. It does so through the discussion and analysis of two case studies drawn from experimental immunology: (i) the efficacy of vaccines for Newcastle disease virus in poultry, and (ii) cancer immunotherapy. It then shows that it is important when repeating experiments to reproduce not only the expected result (i.e., the estimated mean value) but also to reduce the variability in estimates of the mean. Reduction in overall variance can be accomplished both with more precise measurements and by accounting for additional sources of error (covariates or “nuisance” variables). When potentially important covariates are recorded during an experiment, they can be included in the analysis of the data and help to isolate the true “signal” of the experimental treatment from the “noise” of the experimental environment.
Jutta Schickore
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226449982
- eISBN:
- 9780226450049
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226450049.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Simon Flexner and Hideyo Noguchi’s work discusses venom research from the perspective of immunology. They could draw on a much broader pool of resources than Mitchell had available—conceptual, ...
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Simon Flexner and Hideyo Noguchi’s work discusses venom research from the perspective of immunology. They could draw on a much broader pool of resources than Mitchell had available—conceptual, methodological, and material. The mechanism of venom poisoning served as a model for the immune reaction and as a convenient tool for its investigation. Drawing heavily on Paul Ehrlich’s conception of the immune response, Flexner and Noguchi examined the activity of various components of snake venoms. They aimed to establish the existence and agency of substances that were not directly observable, while stabilizing very complex experimental environments. These methodological challenges linked their work with contemporaneous medical and biological experimentation in bacteriology and in seemingly remote fields, such as experimental embryology. The chapter illustrates how venom researchers and other experimenters in the life sciences addressed the problems of validating hypotheses about invisible entities and how they relied on standard units and thresholds to control the variability of experimental conditions, organisms, and biological specimen. The chapter also charts the emerging discussions about how to write scientifically. One of the main motivations for the turn to so-called deductive composition was the notion that “composing deductively” could facilitate the researcher’s understanding of a paper's main points.Less
Simon Flexner and Hideyo Noguchi’s work discusses venom research from the perspective of immunology. They could draw on a much broader pool of resources than Mitchell had available—conceptual, methodological, and material. The mechanism of venom poisoning served as a model for the immune reaction and as a convenient tool for its investigation. Drawing heavily on Paul Ehrlich’s conception of the immune response, Flexner and Noguchi examined the activity of various components of snake venoms. They aimed to establish the existence and agency of substances that were not directly observable, while stabilizing very complex experimental environments. These methodological challenges linked their work with contemporaneous medical and biological experimentation in bacteriology and in seemingly remote fields, such as experimental embryology. The chapter illustrates how venom researchers and other experimenters in the life sciences addressed the problems of validating hypotheses about invisible entities and how they relied on standard units and thresholds to control the variability of experimental conditions, organisms, and biological specimen. The chapter also charts the emerging discussions about how to write scientifically. One of the main motivations for the turn to so-called deductive composition was the notion that “composing deductively” could facilitate the researcher’s understanding of a paper's main points.
