Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
What only one person accomplish in a lifetime? Pirquet, an exceedingly curious pediatrician with acute powers of observation and deduction, not only solved the riddle of serum sickness and developed the concept of allergy, but also made contributions to the study of nutrition and aging.
Translating mouse models into clinical therapies has never been easy. Immunotherapies for cancer also have to contend with an approval process designed for testing drugs. It may be necessary to consider different endpoints and objectives when evaluating the efficacy of these newer approaches.
The HIV-AIDS epidemic in Africa is now of epic proportions. This has precipitated a crisis in public health that needs to be resolved in a uniquely African way. Local and Western research efforts must be blended with strong political and social will to get the preventative message and appropriate therapies to the people whom need them most.
The question of how we acquire immunity has been investigated for a century or more. What have we learned from all of this endeavor? We asked Rolf Zinkernagel to provide, for the young investigator, food for thought about that which we still don't know—even if we think we do.
Historical Insight: The immunologic relationship between the fetus and its parents has fascinated investigators for generations. Early experiments by Ehrlich, as recounted here by Arthur Silverstein, clarified some crucial issues and paved the way for studies that are still ongoing today.
Global immunization of children is an elusive goal of public health officials world-wide. Extraordinary recent funding and organizational initiatives as described by Gustav Nossal have ignited renewed optimism that the stage is finally set to bring this acheivement within our grasp.
