Commentary

The spiraling costs of asthma treatment seem set to continue rising, given the equivocal performance of the latest generation of specific anti-inflammatory drugs in trials in adult asthmatics. We argue that the continuation of this trend is inevitable unless there is a substantial realignment of entrenched drug development policy in the pharmaceutical industry and a parallel shift in licensing policy by regulatory authorities to encourage the development of drugs capable of halting the progression from acute to chronic asthma when the disease first manifests in childhood. The theoretical framework for such an approach, including proof-of-principle data from studies in children with early-stage disease and a range of candidate drugs, already exists. What is needed is informed debate on the risks versus potential benefits of this approach.

Vaccination is a marvel of scientific endeavor that benefits the masses. Yet the laissez-faire economy may not provide a sufficient push for vaccine research and development. The current climate that drives this globally important venture is examined here.

Vaccination has attracted controversy at every stage of its development and use. Ethical debates should consider its basic goal, which is to benefit the community at large rather than the individual.

An ideal vaccine has certain biological and physical characteristics. Technological advances have provided new strategies that may help the design of such a vaccine.

Although the field of regulatory T cells has experienced a resurgence in recent years, the term 'suppressor T cell' has remained taboo. The explanation for this contradictory reaction to similar phenomena can be traced to the historical discovery and definition of each cell type.

Eliciting broadly neutralizing antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus could bring closer the goal of a successful AIDS vaccine. Here the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative Neutralizing Antibody Consortium discusses current approaches to overcome the problems faced.

Dendritic cell–based vaccines have been rapidly transferred from the laboratory to the clinic. As the full potential of these cells has not yet been entirely exploited, many strategies could improve the immunogenicity of these vaccines.

In September, the 70^th birthday of immunologist Max Cooper was celebrated with a symposium entitled Lymphopoiesis II. The B lymphocyte turned 40.

The immune system and the central nervous system operate in very different ways, but the dual use of the major histocompatibility complex for CD8⁺ T cell monitoring and pheromone presentation indicates some commonalities exist.

Although most immunologists do not routinely combine experiments with theoretical and mathematical modeling, new insights can be gained from this interdisciplinary approach. But what makes a good theoretical model?

Despite advances in understanding HIV pathogenesis, the economic, social and legal constraints in India continue to make women particularly vulnerable to HIV infection.

New insights into APOBEC editing functions suggest this family of enzymes might protect against invasive attack by foreign DNA.

Although immunologists have found the dichotomous helper T cell subset model a useful construct, it is beginning to show its age. Some suggest that proponents of the T_H1-T_H2 dichotomy are overzealous in making the data conform to the scheme, like Procrustes who stretched or truncated his guests so that they would fit his guest bed.

Historical insight: Immunology's founding fathers argued fiercely about whether Metchnikoff's phagocytes or Ehrlich's antibodies were the most important mediators of immunity. Antibodies won out, but even after lymphocytes re-established cellular immunology, the humoralist-cellularist divide persisted.

The Midwinter Conference of Immunologists is a popular annual fixture for immunologists to discuss the hot topics in immunology while enjoying the mild weather of the West Coast.

Due to an ever-increasing elderly population, there is a mounting drive to understand immunological defects associated with aging. However, the history of aging research and the very nature of the research itself has hampered progress.

TREC assays are used to detect recent thymic emigrants and quantitate thymic output. However, the longevity of naive T cells combined with T cell division suggest TREC data should be interpreted with caution.

Historical Insight: During those periods when immunology was oriented toward medical or biological subjects, Darwinian concepts predominated. These included Metchnikoff's phagocytic theory and Ehrlich's receptor theory during the early years and Burnet's clonal selection theory after the 1950s. During the immunochemically oriented interim, instruction theories were not so much anti- as a-Darwinian.

South Africa is in the throes of an AIDS epidemic compounded by tuberculosis. Nevertheless, responses to the recent launch of a colorful book promoting adolescent knowledge of HIV immunopathogenesis provide grounds for cautious optimism that education can induce a form of “social vaccination” in South Africa and elsewhere.

Signaling through antigen receptors was in the limelight from 4–8 May 2002 at the third EMBO workshop on “Lymphocyte antigen receptor and coreceptor signaling”. Key findings, new questions and emerging trends from the workshop are summarized here.