Species And Specificity

An account of scientific disputes over the core problems of research and practice in immunology.

Their science was designed only in part to wrest an answer from nature: it was at least as important to wring an admission of defeat from their opponents. One of the key figures in the debate was the Austrian immunochemist Karl Landsteiner, whose career provides the central focus for Mazumdar's account. His unitarian views excluded him from promotion within European institutions, where the specificity and pluralism espoused by Robert Koch and Paul Ehrlich were entrenched. Landsteiner himself was forced into a kind of exile at Rockefeller University in New York. Though Landsteiner won a Nobel prize for his work, his inability to gain more widespread acceptance of his views caused him to view his life as a failure.

The Symposium on Organ and Species Specificity in Chemical Carcinogenesis was held March 1981 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dr. James Miller concluded this Symposium with these remarks: "Without a doubt all of us would agree this has been a very successful symposium in illustrating a very wide range of chemical, stereochemical, biochemical, metabolic, molecular, and biological factors in chemical carcinogenesis. I think it is noteworthy that many of the discussions have dealt with pharmacodynamic, or toxicodynamic, factors that can influence the biological activities of the extremely wide range of structures that we choose to call chemical carcinogens. I sincerely hope that after this symposium everyone here will realize the very great need we have for further information on these agents in the species we profess to be working for, the human species. We badly need an adequate data base on human organs, human tissues, human cells, human subcellular preparations, and human body fluids. I don't think we can rely on extrapolations of data on chemical carcinogenesis from experimental animals to humans, no matter how sophisticated or plausible these extrapolations may seem, until we know far more about chemical carcinogenesis in humans. Now, I'd like to add a somewhat personal note. As many of you know, my wife and I have shared a joint career of some 40 years in this field, and I'd like to emphasize in these closing remarks the factor of youth.

Nobel prizewinner's account of experiments he and colleagues carried out on antigens and serological reactions with simple compounds. Exceptionally broad coverage of basic immunology. Extensive bibliography.

This thematic volume represents an important and exciting benchmark in the study of integrative ecology, synthesizing and showcasing current research and highlighting future directions for the development of the field.

The Janeway's Immunobiology CD-ROM, Immunobiology Interactive, is included with each book, and can be purchased separately. It contains animations and videos with voiceover narration, as well as the figures from the text for presentation purposes.