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The biological bases of invertebrate immune responses have
interested scientists for decades, from the first relevant
observation by E. Metchnikoff in 1882, who discovered phagocytosis
while studying starfish larvae. Invertebrate immunology first began
to be appre ciated as an important field in the late 1960s and
1970s. However, in the following years there was much controversy
regarding the question: do invertebrates offer insight into the
origin of the sophisticated immune responses of the vertebrates?
There are several reasons why progress in research on invertebrate
immune competence has been painfully slow. One of the main
impediments to the progress, as compared to the fast development of
knowledge in the vertebrate systems, was the fact that most of the
studies concentrated on "whole organism" assays, mainly on grafting
tissues between allogeneic partners. Only in the last few years
have more and more aspects of invertebrate immunity been
investigated on the cellular, biochemical and molecular levels.
These studies led to discoveries of novel defense reactions, new
pathways of effector mechanisms which are elicited after
recognition of "nonself', and complex, sometimes highly polymorphic
genetic elements that control invertebrate immune reactions. The
importance of invertebrate immunity for understanding "immunology"
as a whole, despite the conflicting models and hypotheses, is now
much more recognized than before. Although most of the 20 phyla
belonging to the inver tebrates have different modes of life, body
organizations, habitats occupied, and biochemical patterns, they
show striking aspects of exceptional precision for discriminating
between self and nonself."
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