A History of Modern Immunology

Dr. Nagy, a world-leading immunologist, previously held positions as Scientific Member of the Basel Institute of Immunology, Deputy Director of the Max-Planck-Institute for Biology in Tuebingen, Project Leader in Preclinical Research at Novartis in Basel and most recently as Department Head of Immunology at Hoffmann-La Roche in Nutley. Dr. Nagy's research into the major histocompatibility complex has resulted in over 140 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He's actively contributed to immunology research from 1970 to 2006 and is an author of over 150 research publications (mostly in high impact international journals). He's directly contributed to the majority of sub disciplines, the history of which is described in this book. He personally knows almost all prominent scientists in immunology including 8 Nobel Laureates. This background put him uniquely into the position of writing up the history of immunology in the last third of the twentieth century with authenticity and insider details.He's significantly contributed to the genetics of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), to the MHC-association of autoimmune diseases, and to different aspects of T cell biology. Formerly, he was a member of the Basel Institute for Immunology, deputy director at the Department of Immunogenetics, Max-Planck-Institute of Biology, Tubingen, Germany, head of the Immunology Department, Hoffmann La Roche Inc., Nutley, NJ, USA, and head of research at GPC-Biotech Inc., Munich, Germany. Also is a former editorial board member of "Immunogenetics", and "Human Immunology".

Introductory Words about Science, Scientists, and Immunology

Part One: Pre-History with Far-reaching Consequences

1 The immunological revolution

Part Two: The History

2 A very special location: the basel institute for immunology

3 Immunological specificity

4 Monoclonal antibodies: the final proof for clonal selection

5 The first victory of molecular biology: mechanisms of the generation of antibody diversity

6 The major histocompatibility complex

7 Antigen processing and presentation

8 The intricate behaviour of t cells

9 Acquired immunological tolerance

10 Autoimmunity

Concluding Remarks