Understanding vertebrate immunity through comparative immunology.

🤖 Plain-English Summary

Evolutionary immunology has entered a new era. Importantly, hypotheses arising from such wide-ranging comparative studies can be tested in representative and genetically tractable species.

🔑 Key Findings

• Classical studies, using just a handful of model animal species, combined with clinical observations, provided an outline of how innate and adaptive immunity work together to ensure tissue homeostasis and to coordinate the fight against infections.
• However, revolutionary advances in cellular and molecular biology, genomics and methods of genetic modification now offer unprecedented opportunities.
• They provide immunologists with the possibility to consider, at unprecedented scale, the impact of the astounding phenotypic diversity of vertebrates on immune system function.

🔗 Related Resources