ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS RELEVANT TO THE MATURATION OF THE IMMUNE-RESPONSE IN HUMANS

PROBLEM: The reason for the postnatal maturation of the immune response in humans was explored from the anthropological standpoint in order to gain some insight into how development in modern humans evolved and how it might have affected the immune system. METHOD: The estimation of the length of gestation in modem humans if it had followed the same developmental pattern as in the other hominids and the higher primates was calculated by extrapolation from the lengths of gestation and the physical characteristics of these other primates compared to those of modem humans. RESULTS: These calculations show that the gestation time of modern humans would be 3-18 months longer than the 9 months that it is if modern humans had followed a linear evolutionary development comparable to that of the other primates. The key difference between modern humans and the other primates is the rapid and extensive development of the brain that occurs in utero and in the first 12-18 months postnatally in modern humans. CONCLUSION: The first 12-18 months postnatally in humans follows the embryonic/fetal pattern of development, whereas that of other primates does not. The maturation of the immune response in humans occurs during both the intrauterine and extrauterine phases of the embryonic/fetal pattern of development.