Redefining the immune system as a social interface for cooperative processes

Viewed from a neo-Darwinian perspective, the main function of the metazoan immune system (IS) is to insure host integrity against invading microorganisms, which are only considered as selfish competitors that reduce the host's resources, inflict tissue damage, and ultimately compromise host fitness. Coevolution of the host and these competitors has been described as a perpetual arms race (known as the Red Queen hypothesis, Van Valen). This vision implicitly suggests that “The IS evolved under selective pressure imposed by infectious microorganisms" (Janeway) and that the ultimate objective of the IS is to conserve the integrity and sterility of the host. In fact, numerous observations from microbiology and ecology have challenged this paradigm and suggest that infectious organisms and the IS play a crucial, unexpected role in evolution. PLoS Pathog. 2013 9(3):e1003203. Opinion.