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Science 10 November 2000:
Vol. 290. no. 5494, pp. 1104 - 1105
DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5494.1104
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Perspectives

EVOLUTION AND IMMUNOLOGY:
The Economics of Immunity

Andrew F. Read and Judith E. Allen

Our vigilant immune systems are ready to mount an attack as soon as an invading pathogen is spotted. But what is the cost of keeping this sophisticated defense system on red alert? In a provocative Perspective, Read and Allen discuss new findings showing that the cost of immune defense in animals is very high (Moret and Schmid-Hempel), and the claim that, in some circumstances, the cost may be worth the benefit gained (Nunn et al.).

The authors are at the Institute for Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK. E-mail: a.read{at}ed.ac.uk, j.allen{at}ed.ac.uk

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)