Welcome to the instructional immunology website at UCSB.  This site has mainly been designed as an instructional resource for two UCSB immunology courses - Immunobiology (MCDB 133) and Medical Immunology (MCDB138). 

     The first of these courses is mainly designed to provide  students with an introductory but relatively comprehensive overview of the immune system, starting with the extensive organ systems that define the immune system followed by a narrowing focus on specific cell types, proteins, and genes that collectively orchestrate the activities of the immune system. This course also lays the foundation for the second course, which focuses on a variety of human disease conditions that arise because the immune system is either over-active (e.g., hypersensitive), under-active (e.g., immunodeficient), or misdirected (autoimmune or hypersensitive) in ways that substantially alter the well-being of individuals who are afflicted with these conditions.

     Because immunology was one of the first disciplines of biology (along with microbiology) to be modernized in terms of rigorous scientific approaches to important medical problems – beginning in the late eighteen hundreds with the scientific genius, Louis Pasteur – the discipline of immunology has had a very long history and is now very broad. Many Nobel prizes have been awarded for discoveries in immunology and the discipline continues to grow by leaps and bounds and shows no signs of slowing down, especially now that the human genome has been decoded.  It is impossible to create a website that somehow addresses every important topic, at least more than superficially, that defines some key aspect of the immune system.  Thus, my goal with this website is not comprehensive in anyway but it is to provide a resource for students where important topics can be significantly enhanced by presenting them in the context of interactive webpages .  Most of the topics presented at this website relate to the three-dimensional structures and functions of immunological molecules.  Static images of 3-D structures can only go so far in terms of importing significant features of a structure whereas interactive 3-D structures allow students to "peel back"  the physical layers that define a structure in order to get to its core functional features.  Thus, many of the webpages displayed on this site require the installation of one of two web browser plug-ins  - Chime or Jmol.  These plug-ins render highly interactive 3-D structures that appear to be physically embedded in the webpages. themselves.   

     With its long history, immunology has been and is still one of the most exciting fields of biology, not only because of its central importance in medicine, but also because it has provided powerful investigative tools for basic biological research in generally.  Hopefully, some of excitement of fascinating discoveries in this field will "rub off" as you investigate this side.

Duane Sears
January 16, 2008