THE NATURAL-SELECTION THEORY OF ANTIBODY FORMATION

Abstract

A theory of antibody formation is proposed which postulates the spontaneous presence, in the blood of an animal, of small numbers of antibody molecules against all antigens to which the animal can respond, and delegates to the antigen the sole role of carrying such specific globulin molecules from the circulation into cells in which these molecules can induce the production of more of their kind. The theory offers an explanation for the presence in blood of a large pool of normal globulins, for the presence of natural antibodies, for the dominant part played by the surface of antigen particles in antibody induction, for the change in character of antibody during the course of immunization (by natural selection), for the exponential increase during part of antibody production, for a continued production of antibody in the absence of the antigen, for the booster phenomenon, for the absence of auto-antibodies, for immunological paralysis and haptenic inhibition, and for the anamnestic reaction.