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Article: Eco-immunity.(immunologist Antonio Freitas believes that the immune system works through a system of competition between organisms, and that this knowledge can be used to treat auto-immune diseases)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 23, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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PARIS
THE mammalian immune system is a triumph of natural selection. Not only can it respond to invaders of almost any description, it also remembers the ones it has met so that it can nail them more swiftly if it meets them again. To this end, zillions of cells called lymphocytes circulate around the body, spoiling for a fight.
But there is a paradox in this. Throughout your life, your body produces tens of millions of new lymphocytes every day. Yet the total number of patrolling lymphocytes stays the same. A central question in immunology, therefore, is how this steady state is maintained-that is, how it is determined which lymphocytes are kept on, and which ...