Immune information, self-organization and meaning

Abstract

To effect the molecular integrity of the individual, the immune system has to gather antigenic information and respond in a meaningful way. Immunologists traditionally have focused their research on analyzing the component parts of the system. The achievements of immunology in its analytical enterprise have now made it possible to begin the task of synthesis. In this paper, we shall consider how the immune system combines germline and somatic information using a chemical language to establish the functional meaning of antigens.