"Somatic Rearrangements of DNA"

An immune system has to be able to generate a HUGE number of unique immunoglobins to be able to bind to and "recognize" the many potential invaders. Unfortunately, the amount of genetic material we each can carry is limited. We don't have enough space on our chromosomes to code for millions of different possible invaders.

The solution to this is to allow rearrangements of DNA within certain immune cells. If the existing DNA had been copied without alteration, there would only a small number of possible shapes for the antigen-binding region. With rearrangements you can get more than 10-100 million possible shapes for the binding region.

This paper provides scientific support for the idea that a unique kind of DNA rearrangement occurs in B cells during the production of antibodies, and that this kind of rearrangement is sufficient to explain the great diversity in the antigen-binding sites of antibodies.

This original document can be viewed on AskMe.com.