SSS 2011-10-03

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The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology¹ or Medicine goes to Bruce Beutler at the Scripps Research Institute in California, Jules Hoffmann at the French National Center for Scientific Research and Ralph Steinman at Rockefeller University in New York City. Beutler and Hoffman helped to elucidate² innate³ immunity⁴. That's the non-specific array of initial responses by the body's immune system that can recognize invading microorganisms as being foreign and try to destroy them.

 

Steinman investigated dendritic cells, and their key role in what's called adaptive immunity—the specialized⁵ response to specific invaders⁶ that comes into play when innate immunity isn't enough. Thanks to adaptive immunity infected cells get wiped out, and exposure to a specific pathogen can leave us with long-standing protection against that pathogen.

 

The detailed⁷ understanding of the immune system provided by the new Nobel laureates has given other researchers the ability to improve vaccines⁸ and to attempt to stimulate⁹ immune reactions to cancer. Their insights also inform efforts to damp down the immune system when it becomes too zealous¹⁰, which can lead to excessive inflammation and autoimmunity.

 

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Steve Mirsky.

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