In 1983, Dr. Tak Wah Mak co-discovered the T-cell receptor and the gene that produces it. Dr. Mak discovered that T cells actually use an entirely different set of genes for antigen recognition.

He showed that the T cell receptor for antigen was, in many ways, analogous in design to antibodies, yet totally different in genetic origin and sequence. It is impossible to understate the importance and impact of this seminal discovery on all fields of immunology.