title: Ten experiments that would make a difference in understanding immune mechanisms.
abstract: Jacques Monod used to say, "Never trust an experiment that is not supported by a good theory." Theory or conceptualization permits us to put order or structure into a vast amount of data in a way that increases understanding. Validly competing theories are most useful when they make testably disprovable predictions. Illustrating the theory-experiment interaction is the goal of this exercise. Stated bleakly, the answers derived from the theory-based experiments described here would impact dramatically on how we understand immune behavior.
authors: Conceptual Immunology Group, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92037, USA. cohn@salk.edu
authors: Melvin
authors: M
authors: Cohn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015551:Autoimmunity; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D012106:Research
chemical_list: D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell