Towards a unified theory for immunogenetic systems. I. Probing the serologic field--a meta-serologic approach.
A serologic field (SEF) is produced by the in vitro studies of antibody-antigen interactions and usually includes serologic information processing (SIF). SIF can be regarded as the process whereby essentially "meaningless" raw data or experimental observables emanating from an input reality are structuralized and hence falsified into a "meaningful" pattern, Gestalt or output image. According to this "black box model", different "fact categories" (FC) can be identified in SEF. Traditional serology generally confounds its FC whereby fact category mistakes (FCM) are produced. Some FCM are structurally similar to the description of "mice" as four-letter animals or as a four-legged word--i.e. facts about "thing-properties" (animals, legs) are confounded with facts about "language-properties" (letters, words). In SEF, antibody and antigen molecules (thing-properties) are similarly endowed with "empty symbols" (language-properties). Due to such FCM, radically new meanings are assigned to experimental observables if the serologic language and/or theory is changed. The present meta-serologic approach consists of the design of a meta-serologic symbol language (SL-2) which includes the contemporary (simple-complex) conceptual framework (language and theory) as a limiting case. Consequently, some truly radical and revolutionary Gestalt switches will be generated when a specified SEF is mapped onto SL-2.
D000937:Antigen-Antibody Reactions; D007125:Immunogenetics; D007257:Information Theory; D012699:Serology