The body's distributed defence system, and its failure modes.
11 topics · 11 curated works
Assumes you know the vocabulary.
The HLA Region and Autoimmune Disease: Associations and Mechanisms of Action
Stephen C. Gough & Matthew J. Simmonds · 2007
Surveys why so many autoimmune diseases map back to the same stretch of the genome, arguing particular HLA variants shape autoimmunity by changing…
+4 more at this level
Primary sources and full treatments.
The Clonal Selection Theory of Acquired Immunity
Frank Macfarlane Burnet · 1959
Argues each lymphocyte is committed before ever meeting an antigen to make one specific antibody, and that antigen only selects and expands the…
+5 more at this level
11 works
Stephen C. Gough & Matthew J. Simmonds
Surveys why so many autoimmune diseases map back to the same stretch of the genome, arguing particular HLA variants shape autoimmunity by changing which self peptides get presented to T cells.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Lisa A. Jackson et al.
Reports the first human trial of an mRNA-based vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, showing the platform provokes a strong antibody response and establishing mRNA vaccination as a workable approach rather than a theoretical one.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Arup K. Chakraborty and Andrey Shaw (The Royal Institution)
Explains why the immune system must generate receptors it has never needed before, and how that combinatorial strategy determines what vaccination can and cannot achieve against a mutating virus.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Yufang Shi et al.
Traces how identifying the T-cell receptor explained how T cells recognise antigen at all, and how that single discovery underlies everything from organ transplant matching to modern CAR-T therapy.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Itsaso Zugasti et al.
Reviews engineered CAR-T therapy's real-world record against blood cancers and argues its remaining obstacles -- solid tumours, relapse, toxicity -- are now the field's central open problems.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Argues each lymphocyte is committed before ever meeting an antigen to make one specific antibody, and that antigen only selects and expands the matching cells already present, rather than instructing antibody shape directly.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Nobumichi Hozumi & Susumu Tonegawa
Shows the genes for antibody variable and constant regions are physically separated in embryonic DNA and join together during B-cell development, explaining how a limited genome generates antibody diversity.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Emily M. Kofoed & Russell E. Vance
Identifies NAIP proteins as the actual sensors that detect bacterial flagellin and needle proteins inside the cell, explaining how one inflammasome complex can be built to recognise several distinct bacterial threats.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Qing Zhuang et al.
Shows recipient dendritic cells actively migrate into a transplanted organ and pick up donor antigen there, revising the assumption that rejection is driven mainly by donor cells travelling out to the recipient's lymph nodes.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Marek Wieczorek et al.
Argues MHC molecules are not rigid antigen display cases but flexible structures whose conformational give-and-take is itself part of how they select and hold a peptide for T cells to inspect.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Jamie M. Orengo et al.
Engineers antibodies that intercept a cat allergen before it can bind IgE, testing whether blocking the allergen directly can prevent an allergic reaction rather than suppressing the immune response after it starts.
link checked 17 Sept 2026