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The role of viruses in the evolution of antibody diversity

C W Barnhill, R D Peterson

    Medical Hypotheses
    |November 1, 1976
    PubMed

    We propose an alternate concept for the creation of antibody diversity involving the role of viruses as mediators of genetic exchange. We suggest that both species specificity and the diversity of the immune response arose as a consequence of virus co-evolution with host organisms. Processes such as viral transformation, transduction, and integration provide mechanisms of nucleotide exchange with the host leading to antibody diversity. In this model the genes coding for antibodies are stabilized through a process of antigenic and natural selection. Stabilization of genes ensures vertical transmission of appropriate nucleotide sequences.

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