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1962
Initiation of Immune Responses by Small
Lymphocytes
J. L. GOWANS, D. D. MCGREGOR, D. M. COWEN, AND C. E. FORD
B
efore the discoveries of Sir James L. Gowans, the small lymphocyte
was a cell without a function. Small lymphocytes could be enumerated: Winston Churchill, on seeing a lymphocyte count in his hospital
chart, is reported to have asked, “What are these small lymphocytes?”
“We don’t know, Prime Minister,” his physician replied.
“Then why do you count them?”
That was the state of knowledge until the studies of Gowans. Gowans
became interested in the behavior of lymphocytes because of their dynamic
characteristics; the thoracic duct, which he could cannulate, produced
enough small lymphocytes in a day to create a hefty dose of cells, but their
function was unknown. It was Gowans who figured out that these small,
featureless cells could mount both cellular and humoral immune responses
to specific antigens. That is, they were the units of selection in Burnet’s theory of clonal selection. Since Gowans’ paper was published, the number of
papers containing the word “lymphocyte” has doubled annually for many
years, leading to the present-day understanding of adaptive immunity
based on the clonal selection of small, resting lymphocytes. It is difficult to
imagine that any other paper could have such enormous impact.
CHARLES JANEWAY
Reprinted by permission from Nature 196:651–655. Copyright © 1962. Macmillan
Magazines Ltd.
140 Microbiology: A Centenary Perspective
Pathogenesis and Host Response Mechanisms 141
142 Microbiology: A Centenary Perspective
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144 Microbiology: A Centenary Perspective
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