¹Comparative Genomics Centre, James Cook University, Molecular Sciences Bldg 21, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

Correspondence: Professor AG Baxter, Comparative Genomics Centre, James Cook University, Molecular Sciences Building 21, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia. E-mail: alan.baxter@jcu.edu.au

Received 10 October 2007; Accepted 13 October 2007; Published online 27 November 2007.

Abstract

Of the contentious issues surrounding the clonal selection theory, one of the most influential was that of the mechanism for the generation of diversity of antibody specificity. While Burnet's qualitative theory assumed a very large antibody repertoire, Talmage provided a detailed quantitative argument supporting only 5000 individual globulin patterns that provided an antiserum its specificity through combinatorial action. This methodological difference between the two men, and the mechanistic difference between their models, is key to the understanding of the clonal selection theory, its later acceptance and the proportion of credit paid to Burnet.