title: A rationalized set of default postulates that permit a coherent description of the immune system amenable to computer modeling.
abstract: This discussion delineates and rationalizes a set of postulates that permit a coherent understanding of immune function. Although analytical tools such as mathematics and computer modeling have become very popular, simulation and data mining in the absence of a conceptual framework cannot increase understanding. The goal of this essay is to provide the foundation for a discussion that has as its goal the formulation of an agreed upon set of default postulates. Such a set is required to guide the algorithms needed to analyze complex immune behavior.
authors.affiliation: Conceptual Immunology Group, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA. cohn@salk.edu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cohn
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D019295:Computational Biology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology*; D018448:Models, Immunological
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