Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
October 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Frank Macfarlane Burnet's clonal selection theory in the Australian Journal of Science. This short article, republished at the end of this commentary, revolutionized the field of immunology.
In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Frank MacFarlane Burnet's presentation of the clonal selection theory, two of his former staff reminisce about their interactions with this Nobel prize–winning scientist.