Question

The _____ postulates that when an antigen enters the body, it selects the clone whose cells are committed to synthesizing its specific antibody and stimulates these cells to proliferate and to thereby produce more antibodies.

Answer 1

Clonal selection is a biological process where an antigen stimulates only the lymphocyte clones with receptors specific to it to proliferate and produce antibodies. This adaptive immune response leads to the generation of a large pool of specific lymphocytes to fight an infection. Vaccines leverage this process by introducing specific antigens to trigger immunity.

Step-by-step explanation:

The concept in question is known as clonal selection. This biological mechanism explains how an antigen entering the body selects the specific clone of lymphocytes that can synthesize the corresponding antibodies. Those lymphocytes' receptors that recognize the antigen are activated and stimulated to proliferate, resulting in a polyclonal response, which involves the activation and expansion of multiple T cell clones. As a result of clonal selection, the selected clones of B lymphocytes undergo rapid expansion and differentiate into plasma cells, which then begin secreting antibodies specific to the antigen. This adaptive immune response ensures that the body can efficiently generate a large population of lymphocytes poised to combat the invading pathogen.

When it comes to vaccines, they introduce specific antigens into the bloodstream, which are recognized by antigen-presenting cells and lymphocytes. This leads to the production of antibodies by B lymphocytes, providing immunity against the targeted pathogen.