Deciphering Diversity

When fending off dangerous intruders, our body’s strength comes from diversity. Antibodies, our molecular security system’s frontline warriors, specifically bind to and neutralise countless potential threats. How they lock on to such varied molecules was hotly debated for years until Marian Koshland – born on this day in 1921 – showed with elegant experiments in the 1960s that different antibodies were formed of different amino acids [the building blocks of proteins]. Rather than all being alike and adapting to incomers, a large stock of antibodies each fends off specific molecules, like having different outfits for every occasion instead of just making one work for any event. This revelation helped steered the debate towards the understanding that underpins immunology today. Koshland’s career spanned six decades, included countless discoveries – including the J chain, a key part of antibody structure that allows them to move through the body – and powered the field of immunology forward.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Portrait courtesy of the Marian E. Koshland Integrated Natural Sciences Center, Haverford College, Haverford, PA, USA
• Image reproduced with permission from the Marian E. Koshland Integrated Natural Sciences Center