My Dear Immune System: A Poem by Prof. Mohamed Labib Salem

Arxiv preprint arXiv:0710.5423, 2007

Human language and its governing rules present a number of analogies with the organization and structure of communication and information management in living organisms. This chapter will provide a short general introduction about grammar, as well as a brief explanation on how linguistic approaches effectively contaminate scientific practice, and, finally, how they can also provide systems biology with further tools and paradigms to analyse emergent behaviours and interactions among the components of a biological system.

AVANT. Pismo Awangardy Filozoficzno-Naukowej, 2012

The idea that the immune system distinguishes between self and non-self was one of the central assumptions of immunology in the second half of 20th century. This idea influenced experimental design and data interpretation. However, in the face of new evidence there is a need for a new conceptual framework in immunology. Keywords: immune self; philosophy of immunology; self/non-self discrimination.

European Journal of Immunology, 2011

For the seventh time since its launch in 2005 [1-3], EFIS invited all immunologists to think about fresh and innovative PR activities linked to the annual Day of Immunology (DoI), April 29. The purpose of this annual endeavour is to raise awareness among the public, the press, politicians and decision makers about the critical importance of the immune system in everybody's everyday life. As the main Day of Immunology 2011 activity, EFIS prepared a photo exhibition that can be used as an add-on to any DoI activity: ''Get Inside Your Immune System'' is the first web-based exhibition on Immunology. Like a typical photoexhibit, short captions were presented along with fabulous pictures to explain what the immune system is made of, and how it combats pathogens. Please visit: www.inside-immunity.org to discover this wonderful gallery of images and information. The EFIS board welcomes everyone to use this exhibition for their own promotional activities on immunology. To make the exhibition accessible to non-English speakers, we now propose that interested parties of the National Societies of EFIS participate in translating the captions (which are currently only in English) into the various European languages. This follows on from similar translation programs for the translation of the book ''Your amazing Immune System'' and the film ''The Immunology Knight'' [4]. Regarding the book, in 2008, Japanese immunologists focused on activities for

This document is intended to provide some background on the basic functions of the human immune system. Please note that this information is by no means comprehensive, and that many of these terms are de ned only in their broadest and least technical sense. Terms in italics are important to understanding the structure of the immune system, and those interested should take the time to look them up in a dictionary of medicine or immunology. (See for example, [CL95]. ) The main function of the immune system is to deal with foreign invaders, whether these are particles or living organisms. Hence the key to the immune system's successful functioning is its ability to distinguish between \self" and \non-self. " Once a foreign agent is identi ed, the body is then able to mount a response to it. An antigen is, generally speaking, any foreign agent that the can be rec-ognized by the body's immune system. If the immune system is then able to mount an active response to it,...

Adnan Oktar (Harun Yahya) One the most important factors for the continued existence of any country is its defence capability. As a nation, it must be in a constant state of preparedness to face all kinds of threats and dangers from external and internal sources. No matter how well developed and advanced a country may be, if it fails to defend itself, it could be brought to ruin with the launching of even a minor military offensive against it, or even a well-directed and unanticipated terrorist act. In the face of such threats, neither its natural resources, its technological prowess, not its economy will be of any avail. If the country in question is unable to defend itself, it may even cease to exist. This is one of the reasons why significant amounts of the national income is regularly allocated to defence; nowadays, armed forces have to be provided with the most advanced weaponry, tools and equipment fitted with the latest technological features, and meticulous training has to be given to soldiers in an all-out attempt to keep defence systems fully functional. No less than countries, people too have to be concerned about their defence, if they want to lead a healthy and peaceful life. They inevitably have to protect themselves and their possession against criminal acts, such as theft and murder, as well as against natural disasters, such as accidents, fire, earthquakes and floods. But this is not the end of the matter. Human beings have other enemies, which go unseen by them and, as such, are often ignored. Actually, these enemies are much more resilient than the others. Serious measures must, therefore, be taken to guard against them. Who, or what then these enemies that keep human beings under constant threat? They are bacteria, viruses, and similar microscopic organisms, which may exist in the water we drink, the food we eat, the house we live in, and the office where we work. In essence, they are everywhere.

Seminars in Immunology, 2000

We are witnessing a significant challenge to immunology's basic tenet, the immune self. Such an 'entity' is increasingly regarded as polymorphous and ill defined as transplantation biology and autoimmunity have demonstrated phenomena that fail to allow faithful adherence to a strict dichotomy of self/nonself discrimination. Instead of searching for elusive criteria of 'self' and 'other', immune responses are increasingly studied as arising within complex contexts, which determine various degrees of reactivity or dormancy. When the character of the immune 'object' is determined by the context in which it appears, not its character as 'foreign' per se, self/nonself discrimination recedes as a governing principle. In such context-based models, 'ecologic' controls arise from the entire organism in which the immune system is fully integrated. In these systems, subject-object relationships become blurred. Viewed from this perspective, a new theoretical construction of the immune system, one originally proposed by Jerne, is contending with Burnet's theory of immune identity. Although it is too early to judge which theory will prove more capacious, it is already apparent that Jerne's formulation has had a decisive impact in shaping new models of immunity.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020

Philosophy of immunology is a subfield of philosophy of biology dealing with ontological and epistemological issues related to the studies of the immune system. While speculative investigations and abstract analyses have always been part of immune theorizing, until recently philosophers have largely ignored immunology. Yet the implications for understanding the philosophical basis of organismal functions framed by immunity offer new perspectives on fundamental questions of biology and medicine. Developed in the context of history of medicine, theoretical biology, and medical anthropology, philosophy of immunology differs from these related branches of study in its focus on traditional philosophical questions concerning identity, individuality, ecology, cognition, scientific methodology and theory construction. This broad agenda derives from immunology’s multifaceted research program that has developed from its initial clinical challenges of host defense, transplantation, autoimmunity, tumor immunology, and allergy. In addition to these well-established research areas, immunity is now understood to play a central role in other physiological functions, development, ecology, and evolutionary mechanics. Holding together these diverse domains of inquiry lie philosophical commitments oriented by organismal identity. In this regard, pertinent issues are raised concerning cognition (organization of immune perception and information processing), the character of individuality (framed by the ecological context of immune-mediated assimilation and rejection), and the dynamics of complex systems (understood as holistic systems biology). Indeed, immunology, in the context of cognitive science, evolutionary biology, environmental sciences, and development provides multi-focal perspectives for philosophy of science.

Medical Hypotheses, 1978

This paper provides a conceptual framework to accommodate important recent developments in immunology (genetic determination, cellular interactions, suppression). The basic idea is to look at the immune system as a closed network of interactions which self-determines its ongoing pattern of stability and its capacities of interaction with its environment. Thus, all immune events are understood as a form of self-recognition, and whatever falls outside this domain, shaped by genetics and ontogeny, is simply nonsensical. This paradigm, stemming from the ideas of Jerne, represents almost a logical inversion of the Burnetian idea of self-discrimination. A detailed discussion of the immunological evidence that substantiates this view is presented, together with some new concepts (eigenbehavior, cognitive domains). Although the paper is addressed to biologists and immunologists, we make extensive use of system-theoretic notions in a non-mathematical form (recursion, nets and trees, self-organization).

Philosophy of Science, 2008

In biology, the 'ecological orientation' rests on a commitment to examining systems, and the conceptual challenge of defining that system now employs techniques and concepts adapted from diverse disciplines (i.e., systems philosophy, cybernetics, information theory, computer science) that are applied to biological simulations and model building. Immunology has joined these efforts, and the question posed here is whether the discipline will remain committed to its theoretical concerns framed by the notions of protecting an insular self, an entity demarcated from its environment, or will shift its focus of interest to a wider context. An ecological perspective emphasizes the interchange between the organism and its environment, the processing of information, and the regulation arising from responses to this larger context. Moving from the first attempts at modeling the immune system as a closed network, immunologists have joined the general interest in systems analysis, and that move might portend a significant shift to an open, more holistic consideration of immune regulation.