Quantitative and qualitative approaches to GOD: the first 10 years of the clonal selection theory.
Of the contentious issues surrounding the clonal selection theory, one of the most influential was that of the mechanism for the generation of diversity of antibody specificity. While Burnet's qualitative theory assumed a very large antibody repertoire, Talmage provided a detailed quantitative argument supporting only 5000 individual globulin patterns that provided an antiserum its specificity through combinatorial action. This methodological difference between the two men, and the mechanistic difference between their models, is key to the understanding of the clonal selection theory, its later acceptance and the proportion of credit paid to Burnet.
Jordan
Margaret A
MA
Comparative Genomics Centre, James Cook University, Molecular Sciences Bldg 21, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Baxter
Alan G
AG
D000486:Allergy and Immunology / Q000266:history*; D000818:Animals; D000916:Antibody Diversity / Q000276:immunology*; D017637:Clonal Deletion / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018448:Models, Immunological
D000939:Epitopes