Immunity in infectious diseases
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© Bruno Vellutini from São Paulo/São Sebastião, Brasil, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License (cc-by-sa-2.0) |
The research of Mechnikov and Ehrlich gave rise to the two branches of immunity studied as immunology: natural and adaptive immunity. Metchinkov pioneered the idea of studying using very simple organisms to study processes too complex to be followed in humans. He began his studies in bipinnaria, the larva of starfish. These creatures were very simple, and importantly – transparent, so the processes within them could be observed easily. He found that when they pierced by a splinter, many cells moved to the damaged area, and consumed damaged tissue or infectious microbes. He called these ‘phagocytes’ or devouring cells. Through further experiments, with water-fleas, higher animals and eventually to humans, he was able to show that they have a similar response to injury.
Ehrlich led teams of researchers to discover that toxins or microbes in the blood can be neutralised by antibodies which are specific for a particular particle and exist freely in the blood stream. It was antibodies that gave immunity in ‘serum therapy’. Through experiments on monkeys and mice he showed that infectious microbes can adapt in the body and become resistant to antibodies. This long series of experiments led to refinement of serum therapy and a greater understanding of the immunity.
(yes)Tags
Research Fields: Cell biology, Infection and Immunity, Disease characteristics, Drugs & toxins, Vaccine development(yes - 5 items)Date: 1908 (required)
Scientist(s): Ilya Mechnikov, Paul Ehrlich (required)
Countries: Russian Federation, Germany(yes - 2 items)
Animals Used: Mouse, Guinea pig, Other invertebrate, Primates, Other or unspecified birds, starfish(required - 5 items)
Description: Immunity in infectious diseases (yes)
Medical Applications: Medicine, Basic research(yes - 2 items)
