the.com/immunology
a microscopic war epic where your body remembers every enemy it ever fought.
means Immunology is the branch of biology and medicine that studies the immune system — how the body defends itself against pathogens, distinguishes self from non-self, and remembers past invaders.
from From Latin immunis, "exempt, free from burden" (literally in- "not" + munis, related to munus, "duty, public service") — originally a person excused from civic obligations — plus the Greek -logia, "the study of." So the word once meant exemption from taxes long before it meant exemption from disease; the medical sense grew up in the late 19th century as scientists began to understand why survivors of an illness were "exempt" from catching it again.
- cell library
- Memory cells archive pathogens for decades after one encounter
- friendly fire
- Autoimmune diseases are the body attacking itself by mistake
- gut majority
- Most immune cells live inside your intestines
- vaccine trickery
- Vaccines train defenses without the actual disease
- thymus retires
- This training organ shrinks as you age
polio eradication campaign — eliminated disease in 155 countries since 1988, 99% reduction in cases
monoclonal antibody therapy — herceptin (trastuzumab) treats her2+ breast cancer, fda approved 1998
mrna vaccine platform — pfizer-biontech covid-19 vaccine, 2.5+ billion doses administered worldwide