This volume is a collection of papers given at a symposium on immunity and virus infection held in May, 1958 by the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine on the occasion of a visit by Sin MacFarlane Burnet.
The book opens with a thought-provoking discussion by Burnet of three theories of antibody production: the direct template theory of Haurowitz and Pauling; the indirect template theory of Burnet and Fenner; and the clonal selection theory of Jerne as modified by Burnet. The direct template theory states that antibody is formed by moulding against antigen; the continued production of antibody, therefore, depends on the persistence of the antigen.