A. TYLER 365 



are formed by processes analogous to antibody fomiation. In fact, 

 the formation of immune antibodies is considered a special varia- 

 tion of a process that occirrs normally without the intervention of 

 a foreign antigen (cf. Tyler, 1947, 1948, 1955b). For immune 

 antibody formation it is now quite generally assumed, in accord 

 with the views proposed by Breinl and Haurowitz ( 1930 ) , Alex- 

 ander (1932), Mudd (1932), and Pauling (1940), that foreign 

 antigen becomes incorporated in the site of synthesis of serum 

 globulin, so that, as molecules of the latter are formed, they will 

 bear regional surface configurations complementary to specific 

 structures on the antigen that serves as a template. If one con- 

 siders the situation in the absence of foreign antigen, one may 

 conclude that normal globulin is complementary in structure to 

 whatever specific substances comprise the normal site of syn- 

 thesis. The auto-antibody concept assumes in addition that this 

 mode of origin is general for the formation of all macromolecular 

 constituents of cells. Pauling and Delbriick ( 1940, cf. Pauling, 

 1955) and Emerson (1945) have shown how this process may be 

 involved also in gene duplication. 



Examples of the extraction of antigen-antibody-like systems of 

 mutually complementary substances from cells have been previ- 

 ously presented (Tyler, 1940, 1947, 1955b), but these are not as 

 yet very numerous. Experimentally there are difficulties that may 

 well depend upon mutual neutralization during extraction proce- 

 dures, particularly where these involve destruction of the cells, 

 and on lack of suitable testing methods in the event the sub- 

 stances are of the nonprecipitating ( "univalent" ) type ( cf . Tyler, 

 1945, Tyler, Fiset, and Coombs, 1954 ) . There are also indications 

 that natural auto-antibodies may have the ability of immune anti- 

 bodies to act as protective agents, as illustrated by experiments 

 on the neutralization of the venom of the Gila monster by sei"um 

 of the same animal ( Tyler, 1946, 1956a ) . 



One of the suggested applications of the auto-antibody concept 

 was to problems of the specific adhesion of cells in the formation 

 of tissues. For these, useful experimental material was evident in 

 the experiments on the reconstitution of sponges from dissociated 

 cells (Wilson, 1907, 1932) and the interactions of dissociated 



