The network paradigm dominated immunological research from the early 1970s tothe late 1980s. The originator, Niels Jerne, hypothesized that the vast diversity of antibodies present in each individual form a network by mutual "idiotypic" recognition, thus regulating the immune system. By making the connection from this postulated "Eigenbehavior" to emerging concepts in systems biology including cybernetics, the network theory opened a whole new way of looking at the immune system. Eventually, with the advent of exact scientific technologies, the network paradigm became subject to criticism and is now largely abandoned. This book is a historical account of the rise and fall of the network paradigm, describing the main laboratories involved and their scientific contributions. The description of the scientific aspects is complemented by personal interviews with most of the prominent protagonists and antagonists, disclosing their retrospective views on the network paradigm. First-hand account of the raise and fall of a scientific paradigm Shows how scientific fiction turns fact Highlights the origin of scientific hype Includes interviews with prominent scientists INDICE: From the contents Autobiographical note.- Realism, constructivism,and the naiveté of the experimental scientist.- Beyond underdeterminism: Popper, Kuhn, et al.- The anthropology of science: Ludwik Fleck et al.- The science wars.- The immune system, pre-network paradigms.- The necessity for an interactive theory of immunity.- Proto-ideas of the network theory.- The idiotypic network theory.- The T cell receptor puzzle.- Suppression turned idiotypic.- Network mannerism.- Post-network immunology.- Hindsight: personal interviews.- The fictional nature of scientific notions.- Fiction turned fact: The case of antibodies.- The enticing network: Fiction forever.- Logic and laws in life science.- Appendix.
- ISBN: 978-3-7643-8372-5
- Editorial: Birkhaüser
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Páginas: 310
- Fecha Publicación: 01/08/2008
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés