Understanding the Immune System | Zendy

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Understanding the Immune System

Author(s) -

Reporting

Publication year - 2013

Publication title -

lecture notes on coastal and estuarine studies

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Book series

eISSN - 2329-0528

pISSN - 0724-5890

DOI - 10.1029/ln025p0001

Subject(s) - immune system , immunology , innate immune system , antigen , immunity , complement (music) , biology , complement receptor , glossary , acquired immune system , complement system , philosophy , genetics , phenotype , linguistics , complementation , gene

The function of the immune system is to protect the body from foreign organisms. Different types of immunity are described. Natural immunity is composed of innate defenses that react instinctively to a foreign body. Acquired immunity reacts only in the presence of a foreign body. Once exposed to microbes, acquired immunity cells learn how to fight these invaders and retain this information for subsequent encounters. Both types of immunities can work in tandem and are employed in the fight against HIV. However, rather than producing antibodies, one type of cell, the T-lymphocyte, becomes a haven for the virus to reproduce. Over time, the immune system loses the ability to destroy the infected cells and the body cannot fight certain diseases.

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