ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to provide an introduction to both immune system biology and Game Theory. It shows how Game Theory offers an alternative mathematical approach with which to study and interpret host-pathogen interactions and immune system defense. The chapter provides several generic examples illustrating the ways in which different game theoretical formulations could be applied to conflict between the immune system and an invading pathogen. A Game Theoretical analysis will provide insight into both the behavior of that pathogen and the immune system response that the pathogen elicits. The size of the vertebrate immune system is constrained both by spatial considerations and by resource costs associated with its maintenance. The innate immune system responds to signals that are common to a wide variety of different infections. Many of the chemical signals used and secreted by components of the innate immune system are common to pathways in the adaptive immune system as well.
