| Since the publication of the fi rst edition of the Handbook of Human Immunology in 1997, major scientifi c achievements have contributed directly to an increased understanding of the complexities of the human immune system in health and disease. Whether directly as a result of the sequencing of the entire human genome or as a result of the technological advancements in the completion of the latter, several new components of the immune system have been revealed, and new technologies for their measurement and evaluation have been developed. In the past decade, the number of recognized clusters of differentiation (CD) on the surface of leukocytes and associated cells has more than doubled; an entire new chemokine and chemokine receptor nomenclature system has been established; the number of “lymphokines” (now greater than 30) and humanized monoclonal antibody therapy have become a staple of our pharmacologic armamentarium (to mention only a few of the signifi - cant immunological developments of the past decade). The discovery of all of these immune system components has been accompanied by the development of new and improved methods for their detection as well as the recognition of the roles that these components play in health and disease. These major breakthroughs are refl ected in the present edition of the Handbook of Human Immunology. |
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