In 1963, when Max Dale Cooper joined Robert Good Laboratory at the University of Minnesota in the United States, the field of immunology, there were two camps. They are very fond of each other with each other.
At that time, the core issue is the vertebrate immunology research how to adjust their defense in response to bacteria and viruses, the latter two chemicals showed almost unlimited diversity. Good laboratory in adding two years, Cooper made a discovery on lymphocytes, which are proven to crack the mystery and eventually unify these two camps in the area of research played a crucial role.
50 years ago, Good, Cooper and their colleagues Raymond Peterson in “Nature” magazine published papers presented there are two types of lymphocytes view. This is about the process of modern immunology and immune deficiency diseases affecting the immune system and cancer research and treatment, and powerful research tools and therapeutic methods – the development of monoclonal antibodies.
War on cloning
In the 1960s, one of the camp’s main concern immunologist chemical terms, and in that time has made considerable progress. The camp scientists found that the antibody molecule has two binding sites are proteins, can identify a large number of external molecules (antigens), and even synthetic antigen. Meanwhile, the antibody consists of two heavy chains and two kinds of light chains. Wherein each amino acid heavy chain and light chain N-terminal changeable, while the C-terminus is relatively stable.
The second camp is concerned immunological cells and whole organism level. In this camp, the clonal selection theory is increasingly being accepted at that time. The theory is that lymphocytes are diverse, and each cell is unique or can generate clones. Each cell has a unique surface receptor, when combined with an antigen, cloning and triggers cell proliferation. The theory by David Talmage Walter and Eliza Hall Melbourne Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) of Frank Macfarlane and the University of Chicago in the 1950s raised. Clonal selection theory provides a conceptual framework for immunology, but evidence of its existence and mechanism of action has not been found.
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