immunology

Okay, so there are like 20,000 polar bears left. 4,000 tigers. 1,600 Pandas. Meh, who cares, right? I mean, there are still some. 1,600 plus the ones in zoos. 'Endangered' animals are fine! Yeah... No. Minor problem with decreasing population numbers: Its more than just the numbers. Its genetic diversity within those numbers. If those 1,600 pandas are all we have left, and those 1,600 pandas are genetically similar, they are in big trouble. Easy example? Tasmanian Devils. While there are still 20,000-50,000 Tasmanian Devils left, they are being slaughtered by an infectious tumor. An…

Everyone knows that bacteria/viruses/pathogens make you sick. Everyone knows your immune system fights back against these guys so you get better. But did you know that pathogens can (accidentally) make your immune system mutiny? Turn your own immune system against you? They can! Through 'molecular mimicry'! Lets say you woke up this morning, your throats super sore, huge tonsils-- crap. Strep throat. Strep is usually caused by group A streptococcus bacteria. Normally your immune cells trot about, exchanging information, tips on where the little buggers are hiding, which epitopes are…

It's déjà vu all over again. The first chapter in Arthur Allen's book "Vaccine" describes the history of smallpox vaccination in the United States. In 1721, in Boston, the prevailing belief was that to get vaccinated was to intervene with "divine providence." If you tried to protect yourself, it meant that you lacked faith in God. Today, I read that a mumps outbreak is happening in Vancouver, Canada. So far 116 cases have been confirmed. Why is mumps, a preventable and serious disease, causing problems in Canada? photo of a child with mumps by by Barbara Rice, from the Public…

After last Fridays post on a curiously orchestrated media event for a crappy paper (DUNT TAKE TEH PILL OR U CHOSE BAD BOIFREND!), I decided to bully some of my immuno professors for more information. I mean Ive got MHC experts just down the hall, surely they would know more about this topic! ERV: "What the hell?? Did you read the news today??" Professor: *blink* ERV: "Did you see that crappy paper about humans 'sniffing' MHC molecules and women on the pill???" Professor: *blink* ERV: *explains crappy paper* Professor: Its kind of a well known mating trick with mice. Youre trying to get…

Vaccines work by stimulating the immune system to respond to a specific thing. Most of the vaccines we use are designed to prime the immune system so that it's ready to fight off some kind of disease, like whooping cough, polio, or influenza. Some vaccines can have more specialized functions, like stimulating the body to attack cancer cells, kill rogue autoimmune cells, or prevent pregnancy. We'll look at what they do in later posts, for now, let's look at the kinds of things that can be used as vaccines. It's an amazing assortment. Even more amazing is that these items don't all work in…

If youve read 'health' news on the internet this week, youve seen this story: Pill may lead women to the wrong guyThe Pill makes women pick bad mates MSNBCPill Users Choose 'Wrong' Sex Partners WebMDSniffing for Mr. Right Just put 'MHC women' into Google News. Youll get a billion hits for articles talking about this paper: MHC-correlated odour preferences in humans and the use of oral contraceptives Ugh. Guys, at this point in time, research connecting MHC genotype with 'compatible' mates in humans is good old fashioned woo. MHC Class I molecules are on the surface of all of your cells.…

A long time ago, I saw a movie called "The Other Side of the Mountain." The movie told the story of Jill Kinmont, a ski racer who contracted polio and lost the use of her legs. I was sad for days for afterward, but also relieved to know that Jill Kinmont's fate wasn't going to be mine. I wasn't going to wake up in an iron lung after a ski race, and neither were my friends, because most of the children in my generation had been vaccinated against the Polio virus. This image shows a polio survivor learning to walk. The image comes from the CDC Public Health Image Library We were lucky.…

Every year people adopt pet dogs, cats, birds, and other creatures and take them to their local veterinarians for all the usual vaccinations and exams. The usual vaccinations protect your pets from diseases like rabies, distemper, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, and Feline Leukemia. But it's not just pets that get protected by vaccines. Agricultural creatures: fish, chickens, sheep, cows, pigs, and horses receive vaccines and increasingly, wild animals are getting vaccinated, too. One example comes from the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. They are looking at ways to…