HLSC 1F90 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Immunology, Microorganism, A Deeper Understanding
10 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Full of details, our knowledge is still evolving. There are many different players interacting to achieve. Physiological mechanisms that that humans and other animals use to defend their bodies from invasion by other organisms (but without harming the host) (de nition of immunology) Historically original observations of the immune system in action come from survivors of epidemic disease, where survivors were apparently untouched when the infectious disease hit again (the same pathogen) These infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms. They have the advantage of reproducing and evolving much more rapidly than their human host. They pit enormous populations of its species against an individual human. In response, the body invests heavily in cells dedicated for defence, which collectively form the immune system. The immune system is quite important, in the absence of a working immune system, even minor infections can take hold and prove fatal.
