title: Real and artificial immune systems: computing the state of the body.
abstract: Here I present the idea that the immune system uses a computational strategy to carry out its many functions in protecting and maintaining the body. Along the way, I define the concepts of computation, Turing machines and system states. I attempt to show that reframing our view of the immune system in computational terms is worth our while.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Irun.cohen@weizmann.ac.il
authors.forename: Irun R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D019295:Computational Biology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins