キンギョの鱗移植を利用した拒絶反応の教材化

抄録

Goldfish scale transplantation had been introduced in some biology classes for teaching the immune reaction. In the present study the method of the exercise was improved to observe the rejection reaction more clearly and the improved exercise was examined in the author’s biology classes. In the exercise, one or more scales were transplanted from one fish to another. About a week after the transplantation, students could observe that the rejection reaction had occurred in about 30% of the fish with transplanted scales.

After transplantation of scales of the same MHC type, the fish’s own scales or brother’s scales, for example, the rejection reaction cannot be observed. As this phenomenon will be useful to help students understand the recognition of what is self or foreign, the author proposes to use this immune reaction in an advanced exercise. The experiment described in the present paper appears to be useful for upper secondary school students to understand some important current issues related to immunity, such as organ transplantation and AIDS.