Written by Bahar Madani
Have you ever wondered how your body recovers from outside invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and toxins (chemicals produced by microbes)? Our recovery is done by our immune system! Our immune system is made of different organs, cells, and proteins that work together.
There are two parts to our immune system, our innate immune system, which we are born with, and our adaptive immune system, which develops when our body is exposed to microbes or chemicals released by microbes. Fascinatingly, These two immune systems work together!
You might be wondering, what are the functions of our innate immune system? In simple words, it is our rapid response system. It patrols your body and is the first to respond when it detects an invader. The innate immune system is inherited and is active from the moment you are born. When this system recognizes an invader, it goes into action immediately! The cells of this immune system surround and engulf the invader. The invader is killed inside the immune system cells. These cells are called phagocytes. Below is a picture of how phagocytosis takes place.
If the innate immune system kills the pathogen, then what is the function of the acquired immune system? The acquired immune system, with help from the innate system, produces cells, named antibodies, that protect your body from a specific invader. These antibodies are developed by cells called B lymphocytes after the body has been exposed to the invader. The antibodies stay in your body. It can take several days for antibodies to develop. But after the first exposure, the immune system will recognize the invader and defend against it. The acquired immune system changes throughout our lives. Immunizations train our immune system to make antibodies to protect us from harmful diseases.
Sources:
“The Immune System.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/the-immune-system#:~:text=The%20acquired%20immune%20system%2C%20with,been%20exposed%20to%20the%20invader.
O’Hanlon Cohrt, Karen. “The Many Faces of Phagocytes.” Tempo Bioscience, 3 Apr. 2018, www.tempobioscience.com/blog/?p=699.