Estructura y génesis de la teoría humoral de la inmunología

Abstract

This article analyzes the humoral theory of immunity proposed by Paul Ehrlich in 1900, preceded by a series of brilliant investigations that seemed to refute the cellular theory of immunity. We will present these investigations and experiences, and then the foundational article of the humoral theory, using this materials to characterize the structure of the humoral theory, in a modified version of the structuralist approach. We will show the way Ehrlich used theories from other fields to propose his own theory, and the previous investigations as its empirical basis. With these elements we will propose that the context of discovery of the humoral theory is a kind of constructive process. Finally, we will show the structure of thetransition between the cellular and the humoral theory of immunity