Alan Perelson
Paper #: 92-01-002
The immune system is a complex system of cells and molecules distributed throughout our bodies that can provide us with a basic defense against pathogenic organisms. Like the nervous system, the immune system performs pattern recognition tasks, learns, and retains a memory of the antigens that it has fought. In this chapter, I provide a brief introduction to the biology of the immune system and summarize some of the uses of mathematics in understanding its operation.