Further notes about the morphostasis concept – split files

(48) Immature immune systems

A recent article in Trends in Immunology writes this in the abstract (I cannot access the full text): "Exiting from the largely sterile environment of the womb, the neonatal immune system is not fully mature, and thus neonatal immune cells must simultaneously mount responses against environmental stimuli while maturing." They continue: " . . . shed light on the mechanisms by which they drive immune maturation." I have bone to pick with the metaphor "mature" and "maturation". These have an emotional baggage that suggests that they are "not ready" in some way or that they are ill-adapted to the new environment. The liklihood is – for me – that the infant immune system is very well adapted to its needs. It is very likely that a "mature" immune system would stunt growth and scatter unwanted scar tissue in gay abandon. I would reword this as: " . . . the infant immune system is optimised to encourage rapid growth and development and this limits the allowable intensity of auto-aggressive defence strategies. It is only as the animal reaches its fully grown state that the animal can allow piecemeal destruction of suspect self tissues as a defence mechanism." The original statement perpetuates the "fight the microbes" purpose/perspective of immune function whereas optimal "tissue homeostasis" may be its real role. In growing animals this "tissue homeostasis" must also accomodate the need for continuing development and growth of the individual into "maturity" (effectively – optimal reproductive capacity).