The Natural Selection Theory of Antibody Formation, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 55 No. 11 pp. 849 - 857, November 1955. [THEORY OF ANTIBODY FORMULATION, NOBEL PRIZE PAPER]

National Academy of Sciences, 1955. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPS & HOUSED IN A CUSTOM PAMPHLET CASE of the groundbreaking theoretical paper by Niels K. Jerne describing his theory of antibody formulation. This article, which has 1,075 citations, revolutionized the theory of monoclonal antibodies and Jerne shared the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system."

the Nobel Prize Committee awarded Jerne his prize, they did so noting that his "view of the nature of the immune system constitutes the basis for modern immunology" (Nobel Prize Committee) "Jerne's "natural-selection theory regarding antibody formation breaks with old views on the immune response and is a starting point of modern cellular immunology" (Nobel Prize Press Release).

Jerne "proposed that a broad range of specificities of antibodies were released into the blood spontaneously and that antibodies were subject to a replicative drive following their binding to antigen." In order to remain consistent with data indicating a cellular origin of antibody production, he postulated that on binding antigen, antibodies were shuttled to the appropriate cells for reproduction" (Pollard, Antibodies and autoimmunity, 46). CONDITION & DETAILS: November 1955 single issue in original wraps. Re-backed with original spine label. Housed in custom pamphlet cases. Very light library stamp on front wrapper, otherwise pristine. Bright and very clean throughout.