Before it was possible to examine the immunoglobulin genes directly, there were two main hypotheses for the origin of this diversity. The germline theory held that there is a separate gene for each different immunoglobulin chain and that the antibody repertoire is largely inherited. In contrast, somatic diversification theories proposed that the observed repertoire is generated from a limited number of inherited V-region sequences that undergo alteration within B cells during the individual’s lifetime.
Cloning of the immunoglobulin genes revealed that elements of both theories were correct and that the DNA sequence encoding each V region is generated by rearrangements of a relatively small group of inherited gene segments. Diversity is further enhanced by the process of somatic hypermutation in mature activated B cells. Thus the somatic diversification theory was essentially correct, although the concept of multiple germline genes embodied in the germline theory also proved true.