Autonomous distributed control in the immune system using diffuse feedback

How does the immune system identify a pathogen and regulate the resources and severity of an immune response without a master controller, a guiding goal or a guiding global performance measure? A feedback and control theory called diffuse feedback (diffuse information network) proposed by Lee Segel is discussed which addresses this complex and multiplefaceted question. The result is a theory and set of principles that address the autonomous control of a distributed population of decision-making agents through diffuse information signals and spatial self-organization.