Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
This timely, comprehensive volume draws on recent advances in molecular, cellular and organismal biology to provide a detailed analysis of the phylogeny and ontogeny of the immune system. This first book to provide broad coverage of this field gives a clear description of cellular and molecular interactions in the development of immune function. Although most of this work is based on studies in vertebrates, the intriguing observations of cytokine-like molecules in invertebrates are discussed. In a final section, the contributors deal with abnormalities in the development and regulation of the immune system, including primary immunodeficiency diseases, and with the normal aging of the immune system. Throughout the book, an effort has been made to compare and integrate information from studies in diverse systems, and to discuss the limitations of such comparisons. This work will be of special interest to immunologists and theoretical, cell and developmental biologisis, and much of the book will be useful to physicians working in pediatrics, internal medicine and reproductive medicine.
This book contains black-and-white illustrations.
Editorials
From The Critics
Reviewer: Thomas L. Feldbush, PhD(Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine)Description: This is a new book summarizing current knowledge on the phylogeny and ontogeny of the immune system. The book includes historical perspectives on the origins of the discipline of developmental immunology.
Purpose: The book is intended to review the rapidly developing field, incorporating recent advances in cellular and molecular biology. These are particularly worthy objectives, because most textbooks in immunology pay only minimal attention to this area. By describing, in detail, the phylogeny of the immune system one can better understand its ontogeny and its role in human diseases.
Audience: The book is appropriate for students, postdoctoral fellows, and persons working in related fields. Some of the information is probably too dated for people working in the field. The different chapters are all written by individuals working in the area. No similar work has appeared in recent years.
Features: The book does not contain a large number of illustrations, and those that are included are simple but appropriate. My one criticism is that the book was written over a long period of time, and some of the chapters were not updated completely. The table of contents is quite good as is the index. The writing style is good and remarkably consistent.
Assessment: This is a very good book that will be of interest to immunologists, biologists, and perhaps to paleontologists. It is well written, current, and presents concise summaries of current work in the field of developmental immunology. Very few programs in the country will teach a course on this subject, but it will be part of many other courses in general immunology and biology. This is an important book to have in any library.
Thomas L. Feldbush
This is a new book summarizing current knowledge on the phylogeny and ontogeny of the immune system. The book includes historical perspectives on the origins of the discipline of developmental immunology. "The book is intended to review the rapidly developing field, incorporating recent advances in cellular and molecular biology. These are particularly worthy objectives, because most textbooks in immunology pay only minimal attention to this area. By describing, in detail, the phylogeny of the immune system one can better understand its ontogeny and its role in human diseases. "The book is appropriate for students, postdoctoral fellows, and persons working in related fields. Some of the information is probably too dated for people working in the field. The different chapters are all written by individuals working in the area. No similar work has appeared in recent years. "The book does not contain a large number of illustrations, and those that are included are simple but appropriate. My one criticism is that the book was written over a long period of time, and some of the chapters were not updated completely. The table of contents is quite good as is the index. The writing style is good and remarkably consistent. "This is a very good book that will be of interest to immunologists, biologists, and perhaps to paleontologists. It is well written, current, and presents concise summaries of current work in the field of developmental immunology. Very few programs in the country will teach a course on this subject, but it will be part of many other courses in general immunology and biology. This is an important book to have in any library.3 Stars from Doody