Background
The concept of immunity refers to an organism's ability to respond to various foreign intrusions (as occurs in infection). A basic requirement in such a system is the ability to avoid self-harm through some mechanism of recognizing "self". In classic immunity several types of molecules label the organism's own cells as "self". Cells labelled in this manner are tolerated and not damaged by the various defense mechanisms employed to protect against infection. Dysregulation of this system is responsible for several types of disease states known collectively as autoimmune disorders.
The term Eutheria is a taxon describing placental organisms such as mammals. The sister group of Eutheria is Metatheria, which includes marsupials and their extinct relatives.
The term eu-FEDS was first described in 1997 by Gary F. Clark et al. as "the human fetoembryonic defense system", and later renamed to apply more broadly to all members of the taxon Eutheria. In 1949 Frank Burnet, and later in 1953 Peter Medawar, observed that the developing fetus was, in fact, similar to a transplanted "foreign" organ, because of the father's contribution to its genome. In 1960, Medawar and Burnet were awarded the Nobel Prize in part for their early contributions and discoveries related to understanding the necessity for the development of tolerance to the developing eutherian. It is now apparent that a human fetus is tolerated by its birth mother, even when it is completely unrelated. These observations were made following the introduction of modern assisted reproduction technologies involving unrelated donor eggs and the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The eu-FEDS hypothesis was itself proposed to describe the precise immunological mechanisms that mediate protection of the developing eutherian fetus from the immune responses of its mother.
Read more about this topic: Eutherian Fetoembryonic Defense System (eu-FEDS) Hypothesis
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