[Word and sign in immunology]

Some scientific and social aspects of immunology are reviewed in the present address. Immunology is a factor in acquiring knowledge of the mechanisms by which the body resists infectious disease, chemicals impairing resistance, which may be present in nutrients, feeds and the environment and in heritable disorders. The immune system is not merely a defensive apparatus directed towards resistance but also has an internally regulatory function. An adapted use of language ('immunolinguistics') is essential in characterising this last-named infection, formulating new ideas on the subject and testing new uses. It will only be possible to develop new or improved vaccines on the basis of recombinant DNA technology and synthesis of proteins, when more knowledge of the immunology of a number of infectious diseases has been acquired. In cases of infestation with worms (infestation of the gastrointestinal tract in ruminants, among other things), individuals possessing a hereditarily diminished defence system will also have to be taken into account. Attention should be paid to this contingency in developing and using anthelmintic vaccines. Immunology (vaccines and diagnostica) offers possibilities of exploitation (social utilisation of the results obtained in research). The dollar sign has made its entry into immunology.