Main description:

The history of science has shown the majority of hypotheses to be wrong. Sharp scientific criticism and strictly controlled experimental studies reject most of the hypotheses, leaving behind only a small number of assumptions and ideas. Nevertheless, each logical assumption should have its rightful place on the scientific "battlefield" supposed to assess its validity and determine its final fate. Even when a hypothesis is wrong, it still finds its place in the entire efforts of the humankind towards attaining the scientific truth. Namely, the wrong hypotheses serve largely to illuminate the way towards the correct ones or, at least, to show which way not to follow. Correct or not, ideas and hypotheses are necessary for the progress of science. They epitomize the efforts of human thought to elucidate nature without experimental verification and in the circumstances of scant data availability. Finally, hypotheses and ideas represent a symbiotic creation of our knowledge and imagination, the two most impressive appearances in the evolution of humans.

Contents:

- Introduction. - 1: The Vertebrate Immune System. 1.1. The Vertebrate Immune System Evolution. 1.2. MHC Molecules - Nature, Function And Evolution. 1.3. Auto-Immunity-A By Product Of Adoptive Immunity. References. - 2: Alloimmunity and Pregnancy. 2.1. Alloimmunity. 2.2. Alloimmunity And Viviparity. References. - 3: Anti-tumor Immunity Failure in Mammals. 3.1. Mechanisms Of Anti-Tumor Immunity. 3.2. Are Tumors Immunogenic? 3.3. Basic Mechanisms Of Anti-Tumor Immunity Failure In Mammals. References. - 4: Immunosurveillance Mechanisms of the Fetoplacental Unit. 4.1. 'Seminal Priming' And Successful Pregnancy. 4.2. Decidua And Trophoblast. 4.3. Prostaglandine. 4.4. Sex Hormones And Immunity In Pregnancy. 4.5. Immunomodulatory Proteins. 4.6. Anti-Trophoblast Immunity Failure By Apoptosis And/Or Anergy Induction. 4.7. Evolutionary Solutions Of Viviparity In Mammals. References. - 5: Tumors in Mammals and Non-mammalian Classes of Vertebrates. 5.1. Comparative Oncology. 5.2. Non-Mammalian Classes Of Vertebrates. 5.3. Anti-Tumor Immunity As Auto-Immunity. 5.4. Pregnancy As A 'Successful' Tumor. 5.5. Evolution Of The Hypothesis. - References. Index.