WHAT EXACTLY IS ATOPY - VIEWPOINT NUMBER-1

Several decades ago, Ingram already complained that ''Atopy means exac tly nothing, except in the mind of Coca and Cooke'', Despite very subs tantial progress in basic and clinical research on the atopic diseases , particularly in the areas of immunogenetics, cellular immunology and immunopharmacology, there is still a great deal of uncertainty, confu sion and conflict on what exactly the basic underlying abnormality of the atopic diseases may be. Therefore, this inaugural feature of Contr oversies in Experimental Dermatology illustrates the ongoing dispute o n one of the unsolved key problems of experimental and clinical dermat ology, and sketches promising avenues for future research.