Somatic Mutagenesis and Evolution of Memory B Cells

The parallels between classical evolution of species and somatic evolution of lymphocytes are astounding. While ontogeny is sometimes an artful rendition of phylogeny, somatic evolution in vertebrate immunity is an accelerated version of the evolutionary algorithm that shaped complex life forms on this planet. Somatic evolution has adopted cardinal features of classical evolution, even at a high level of resolution. If “survival of the fittest” is the onus of life, then “survival of the best fit” appears to be the onus of the B lymphocyte and its antibody product.