As we describe the immune system in ever more exquisite detail, we might find that no matter how successful, this approach will not be sufficient to understand the spread of infectious agents, their susceptibility to vaccine therapy, and human disease resistance. Compared with the strict reductionism practiced as a means of characterizing most biological processes, I propose that the progression and outcome of disease-causing host–parasite interactions will be more clearly understood through a focus on disease ecology.

中文翻译：

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通过疾病生态学视角了解免疫力

当我们对免疫系统进行更详尽的描述时，我们可能会发现，无论多么成功，这种方法都不足以了解传染原的传播，它们对疫苗疗法的敏感性以及对人类疾病的抵抗力。与作为表征大多数生物学过程的手段的严格还原论相比，我建议通过关注疾病生态学，可以更清楚地了解引起疾病的宿主-寄生虫相互作用的进程和结果。