This volume collects the contributions presented at the "Working Conference on System Theory in Immunology", held in Rome, May 1978. The aim of the Conference was to bring together immunologists on one side and experts in system theory and applied mathematics on the other, in order to identify problems of common interest and to establish a network of joint effort toward their solution. The methodologies of system theory for processing experimental data and for describing dynamical phenomena could indeed contribute significantly to the under standing of basic immunological facts. Conversely, the complexity of experimental results and of interpretative models should stimulate mathematicians to formulate new problems and to design appropriate procedures of analysis. The multitude of scientific publications in theoretical biology, appeared in recent years, confirms this trend and calls for extensive interaction between mat- matics and immunology. The material of this volume is divided into five sections, along the scheme of the Conference program.

The Janeway's Immunobiology CD-ROM, Immunobiology Interactive, is included with each book, and can be purchased separately. It contains animations and videos with voiceover narration, as well as the figures from the text for presentation purposes.

Design Principles for the Immune System and Other Distributed Autonomous Systems is the first book to examine the inner workings of such a variety of distributed autonomous systems--from insect colonies to high level computer programs to the immune system. It offers insight into the fascinating world of these systems that emerge from the interactions of seemingly autonomous components and brings us up-to-date on the state of research in these areas. Using the immune system and certain aspects of its functions as a primary model, this book examines many of the most interesting and troubling questions posed by complex systems. How do systems choose the right set of agents to perform appropriate actions with appropriate intensities at appropriate times? How in the immune system, ant colonies and metabolic networks does the diffusion and binding of a large variety of chemicals to their receptors permit coordination of system action? What advantages drive the various systems to complexity, and by what mechanisms do the systems cope with the tendency toward unwieldiness and randomness of large complex systems?

After I came to know Jerne's network theory on the immune system, I became fascinated with the immune system as an information system. The main pro totypes for biological information systems have been the neural systems and the brain. However, the immune system is not only an interesting informa tion system but it may provide a design paradigm for artificial information systems. With such a consideration, I initiated a project titled "autonomous decentralized recognition mechanism of the immune network and its applica tion to distributed information processing" in 1990 under a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on a Priority Area ("Autonomous Distributed Systems") supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture. During the project, I promoted the idea that the immune system could be a prototype of autonomous distributed systems. After the project, we organized an international workshop on immunity based systems in 1996 in conjunction with the International Conference on Multi-Agent Systems held in Kyoto, Japan. Recently, there have been several international conferences related to topics inspired by the immune system and an increasing number of research papers related to the topic. In writing this book, a decade after the project, I still believe that the immune system can be a prototype, a compact but sophisticated system that nature has shown us for building artificial information systems in this network age of the twenty-first century.

The mainstream view of the immune system is concerned with molecular and cellular details resulting in a picture of immense complexity. Many immunologists live with this complexity, hoping that a series of breakthroughs will eventually add up to a greater insight. However, the forest is ignored for the trees and a ‘Systems Approach’ is vital for a better understanding. Peter Bretscher develops here a unique perspective on how the immune system functions as an integrated organ, by taking account of observations and concepts at the ‘level of system’ that are often half forgotten or ignored. A colleague, on reading this book, wrote: “Those who have followed Peter’s work these past 50 years will recognize this book for what it really is — a rare achievement, a scientific masterpiece. It is a must read for all those Immunologists and Clinicians who want to find effective immunological cures for the many debilitating health issues that confront us. Peter Bretscher has produced a lucid and logical exposition of the rules governing how the adaptive immune system responds to all foreign antigens whether bacterial, viral or modifications of the self, which emerge in cancer or autoimmune conditions. This book is a testament to Louis Pasteur’s dictum that there is no applied science, just the application of basic science.” Rediscovering the Immune System is written in a jargon-free and accessible style. This personal perspective is an ideal guide to the immune system for students, researchers and the engaged, general reader alike.