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From Immunology to Eco-Immunology: More than a New Name

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Eco-immunology

Abstract

Eco-immunology recognises that immune systems and responses are an integrated part of an animal’s physiology, preventing harm that might be caused by pathogens. Laboratory-based immunology has given a tremendously strong understanding of the mechanisms by which this system functions, though this is focused on a few species. It is clear that immune responses are costly to make, such that animals have difficult decisions of resource allocation to make. For this reason alone, an eco-immunological approach is key to understanding the functional effect of immune responses. Animals live in antigenically complex environments. Because of the superb adaptiveness of the immune system (as well as its redundancy) the immune responses made by different individuals in a population may differ greatly, but the functional effect of this is unclear and ripe for investigation. The research challenges for eco-immunology are substantial, but achievable.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    An antigen is a molecule to which an immune response is induced. Antigens are typically from pathogens, although experimentally any molecule introduced to an animal acts as an antigen. Auto-antigens are host-derived molecules to which, therefore, an auto-immune response is generated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, BS8 1UG, Bristol, UK

    Mark E. Viney

  2. Department of Immunology and Infection, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, WC1E 7HT, London, UK

    Eleanor M. Riley

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  1. Mark E. Viney
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Correspondence to Mark E. Viney .

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  1. University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Davide Malagoli

  2. University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Enzo Ottaviani

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Viney, M., Riley, E. (2014). From Immunology to Eco-Immunology: More than a New Name. In: Malagoli, D., Ottaviani, E. (eds) Eco-immunology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8712-3_1

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