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Article: The incredible shrinking dose. (human basophil degranulation triggered by dilute antiserum)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- July 9, 1988
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 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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"SPACE aliens turned our son into an olive" is the sort of headline that makes people unwilling to believe the stories in Sunday Sport, a British tabloid. "Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE" inspires more confidence. But an article under this title in last week's Nature struck most scientists as-if anything-less likely than extra-terrestrially induced son/olive metamorphosis.
Dr Jacques Benveniste and his colleagues at the University of Paris-Sud started off with a liquid containing antibodies that make a type of white blood cell called basophils give off molecules called histamines. Then they mixed one part of antibody ...