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Metchnikoff and the phagocytosis theory

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 4, pages 897–901 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Metchnikoff's phagocytosis theory was less an explanation of host defence than a proposal that might account for establishing and maintaining organismal 'harmony'. By tracing the phagocyte's various functions through phylogeny, he recognized that eating the tadpole's tail and killing bacteria was the same fundamental process: preserving the integrity, and, in some cases, defining the identity of the organism.

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Figure 1: Ilya Metchnikoff, at ∼45 years of age.
Figure 2: Hypothetical stages in the evolution of early metazoans.
Figure 3: Scanning electron micrograph of a phagocyte.
Figure 4: Metchnikoff's theory of inflammation.
Figure 5: Metchnikoff's drawing of phagocytes reacting to injury caused by cauterization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Philosophy and History of Science, Boston University, 745 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 02215, Massachusetts, USA

    Alfred I. Tauber

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  1. Alfred I. Tauber
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FURTHER INFORMATION

Boston University, Alfred I Tauber

Ilya Mechnikov — Nobel Lecture

Doc Kaiser's Microbiology Website, The Innate Immune system

University of Leicester, Phagocytosis

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Tauber, A. Metchnikoff and the phagocytosis theory. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 4, 897–901 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm1244

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