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Real and artificial immune systems: computing the state of the body

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 7, pages 569–574 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Here I present the idea that the immune system uses a computational strategy to carry out its many functions in protecting and maintaining the body. Along the way, I define the concepts of computation, Turing machines and system states. I attempt to show that reframing our view of the immune system in computational terms is worth our while.

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Figure 1: The universal Turing machine defines computation.
Figure 2: Immune computation.
Figure 3: Natural autoimmunity serves body maintenance.
Figure 4: Reactive animation.

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Acknowledgements

I thank my students and colleagues for teaching me about computation and for their stimulating discussions: H. Amir-Kroll, H. Atlan, E. Ben Jacob, H. Bersini, A. Coutinho, E. Domany, S. Efroni, Z. Grossman, D. Harel, Y. Louzoun, M. Meier-Schellersheim, Y. Merbl, F. J. Quintana, A. Sadot, E. Sahar and S. Solomon. The late L. Segel made a unique contribution to my thinking. I thank S. Efroni for helping me prepare figure 4.

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  1. Irun R. Cohen is at the Department of Immunology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Irun.cohen@weizmann.ac.il,

    Irun R. Cohen

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Glossary

Algorithm

A 'recipe' for carrying out a computation.

Computation

The process of obtaining a solution to a problem from given inputs by means of an algorithm.

Immunogenic state of the body

The conditions and molecular signals of the body that affect or stimulate the immune system.

Immunological homunculus concept

The concept that the adaptive and innate repertoires of the healthy immune system include receptors that recognize a defined set of body molecules. These self-recognizing receptors combine to encode a functional immune image of key body molecules. The immunological homunculus reads the immunogenic state of the body.

Response state of the immune system

The responses of the immune system to the immunogenic states of the cells and tissues of the body.

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Cohen, I. Real and artificial immune systems: computing the state of the body. Nat Rev Immunol 7, 569–574 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri2102

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