The Importance of Clonal Dynamics in Antibodies

We divide the work in the lab into two major areas. One is, um, what we call germinal center mechanics. How does a clump of cells manage to recapitulate Darwinian evolution inside your tonsil every day? The other one is called clonal dynamics and it's sort of evolutionary genetics. If you make only one antibody, it's very easy for a virus to escape from it; if you make 20, it's somewhat harder. And this second part, clonal dynamics is, is much more fuzzy. It's much harder to study than the other part, which is kind of more defined.