Further notes about the morphostasis concept – split files

(27) Self/nonself discrimination

An early problem that immunology became encumbered with was a concept on self/nonself discrimination based on individual epitopes. This was formulated in the days when the immune system was regarded, exclusively, as a system of circulating antibodies. However, in retrospect, it was naïve to formulate this discrimination around a classification of epitopes into self or non-self. All self epitopes were believed to be learnt in utero and all new (stranger) epitopes then became the basis of an attack on foreign matter. This early assumption is understandable. However, it is astounding that this simplistic formulation is still barely acknowledged and remains largely unchallenged.