Editorial overview

The seven authors whose reviews follow were handed the almost impossible task of covering the important developments in immunity to infection - that area where immunology and microbiology overlap to the advantage of both. The huge number of papers they were given to choose from is a sign of the teeming activity in this field - rather different from the situation 25 years ago when immunologists worked almost exclusively with harmless model antigens, while microbiologists viewed immunity mainly in terms of antibody. Certain themes occur throughout these reviews, and can perhaps be taken as the "highest common factors" which would be perilous for anyone working today in this field to ignore.