Boost your immune system with this centuries-old health hack: Vaccines
Even if you’re healthy and fit, you still need vaccines to protect yourself from severe disease.
The conversation
Iron fuels immune cells – and it could make asthma worse
Asthma attacks can result from immune cells overreacting to a harmless allergen. Tamping down iron levels in certain immune cells can help control their activity.
Snakebites: we thought we’d created a winning new antivenom but then it flopped. Why that turned out to be a good thing
By reporting this new way that future antivenoms can fail, the research has highlighted a problem with current antivenom testing recommendations.
Immune cells can adapt to invading pathogens, deciding whether to fight now or prepare for the next battle
When faced with a threat, T cells have the decision-making flexibility to both clear out the pathogen now and ready themselves for a future encounter.
What if every germ hit you at the exact same time? An immunologist explains
Your immune system is often able to fend off pathogens it’s never seen before. But defending your body against all of them all at once is a tough challenge.
Drugs of the future will be easier and faster to make, thanks to mRNA – after researchers work out a few remaining kinks
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the promise of using mRNA as medicine. But before mRNA drugs can go beyond vaccines, researchers need to identify the right diseases to treat.
How do viruses get into cells? Their infection tactics determine whether they can jump species or set off a pandemic
Viruses can get into cells in several ways. Figuring out how to stop them from entering in the first place is a key to developing better vaccines and stopping future pandemics.
Immune health is all about balance – an immunologist explains why both too strong and too weak an immune response can lead to illness
Dietary supplements claim to be able to ‘boost your immune system’ to combat disease. But attaining immune balance through a healthy lifestyle and vaccination is a safer bet to keep in good health.
An itching paradox – a molecule that triggers the urge to scratch also turns down inflammation in the skin
Itch-sensing neurons in your skin are intertwined with your immune cells. Counterintuitively, the molecule that connects them triggers responses that both worsen and improve skin conditions.
Your immune system makes its own antiviral drug − and it’s likely one of the most ancient
The human body has been making antivirals for eons, long before scientists did. A protein in your cells called viperin produces molecules that work similarly to the COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir.