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The specificity enigma: from mechanics to poems

Yair Neuman1

  • 1Office for Interdisciplinary Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. yneuman@bgumail.bgu.ac.il

Rivista Di Biologia
|November 23, 2006
PubMed

Biological specificity is usually described in terms of the lock-and-key metaphor. However, this metaphor is to a certain extent misleading and does not grasp the complexity underlying biological specificity. The failure of the lock-and-key metaphor makes it difficult to understand immune recognition. This is the reason why immune specificity has been described as the "Specificity Enigma." In this article, I point at three important differences between biological specificity and mechanical specificity, and suggest an alternative lens through which immune specificity can be considered.

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