Conference on Primordial Immunity to be held in Woods Hole, Massachusetts on May 2-5, 1993.

这笔赠款将支持一次关于原始免疫机制的国际会议。自从数亿年前第一批生物彼此相遇以来，宿主防御机制一直在进化。所有多细胞生物体都面临着区分自己的细胞和组织与外来的细胞和材料的必要性，以应对寄生虫和病原体等问题。原始物种和脊椎动物一样具有识别和防御的能力，因此，从它们身上学到的教训可以为理解脊椎动物采取的策略提供基础。对原始动物防御系统的研究正在对所有生物特有的不同宿主防御功能产生新的见解。此外，无脊椎动物还提供了新的产品来源和潜在的治疗剂。已对高等哺乳动物的免疫功能进行了大量研究，以此作为人类免疫反应的模型。相比之下，人们对生活在地球上的其他物种的免疫类功能知之甚少。了解各种各样的动物是如何自卫的，可以为我们提供合理的策略，帮助保护生物的多样性。使用分子生物学和蛋白质化学技术的最新进展正被应用于鉴定用于自卫的产物和在广泛的生物体中表征免疫样反应。这次国际会议将带来来自不同领域和世界各地的演讲者，分享关于东道主防御系统的起源和功能的信息和见解。此时集中讨论这一主题的国际会议将有助于在这一重要领域取得进展。

This grant will support an international conference on primordial immune mechanisms. Host defense mechanisms have been evolving since the first organisms encountered one another hundreds of millions of years ago. All multi-cellular organisms face the necessity of distinguishing between their own cells and tissues and foreign cells and materials in order to deal with such problems as parasites and pathogens. Primitive species are capable of recognition and defense as are the vertebrates, and, thus, lessons learned from them can provide a basis for understanding strategies that vertebrate animals have adopted. Studies of defense systems of primitive animals are yielding new insights into the diverse host defense functions characteristic of all living things. In addition, invertebrates offer new sources of products and potential therapeutic agents. %%% Much research has been carried out on immune function in higher mammals as a model for the human immune response. In contrast, very little is know about immune-like function in the array of other species living on Earth. Understanding how a wide range of animals defend themselves can provide us with rational strategies to help preserve the diversity of life. Recent advances using techniques of molecular biology and protein chemistry are being applied in identification of products used in self defense and characterization of immune-like responses in a wide array of organisms. This international conference will bring speakers from diverse fields and from around the world to share information and insights into the origins and function of host defense systems. An international conference focusing on this subject at this time will contribute to progress in this important area.