title: Invertebrate immunity and the limits of mechanistic immunology.
abstract: Rapid progress is being made in elucidating the molecular mechanisms involved in invertebrate immunity. This search for molecules runs the risk of missing important phenomena. In vertebrates, acquired protection and pathogen-specific responses were demonstrated experimentally long before the mechanisms responsible were elucidated. Without analogous experiments, mechanism-driven work may not demonstrate the full richness of invertebrate immunity.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biology, University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK. tom.little@ed.ac.uk <tom.little@ed.ac.uk>
authors.forename: Tom J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Little
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hultmark
authors.forename: Andrew F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Read
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000276:immunology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000276:immunology; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007156:Immunologic Memory / Q000276:immunology*; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*