Germs, Hosts, and the Origin of Frank Macfarlane Burnet's Concept of "Self " and "Tolerance," 1936-1949
@article{Park2006GermsHA, title={Germs, Hosts, and the Origin of Frank Macfarlane Burnet's Concept of "Self " and "Tolerance," 1936-1949}, author={Hyung Wook Park}, journal={Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences}, year={2006}, volume={61}, pages={492 - 534} }
In the early twentieth century, the living organism's ability to distinguish its "self" from foreign entities such as bacteria, viruses, transplanted tissue, or transfused blood was a major problem in medical science. This article discusses how the Australian immunologist Frank Macfarlane Burnet arrived at a satisfactory explanation of this problem through his 1949 theory of "self" and "tolerance." Burnet's theoretical work began from his study of diverse factors affecting the conditions of the…
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