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The first artificial immune system has been developed
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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When a baby is born, its immune system is not fully developed and it is vulnerable to infections. Vaccination of newborns, according to Guzman Sanchez-Schmitz of Harvard Medical School, is the only option that can save children, especially in Africa and Asia.
However, doctors do not have many vaccines for children. The fact is that a child's immune system reacts to immunization differently than an adult's. It is now possible to predict its reaction thanks to a new system, writes New Scientist.
The scientists collected cord blood and used it to obtain two types of cells: those that make up the walls of blood vessels, and white blood cells that trigger the immune response. These cells were grown in a collagen base. The final element was the plasma of the newborn.
The result was the first artificial immune system made entirely from human components and functioning like a newborn baby's. Scientists were able to observe how white blood cells passed through the cells that line blood vessels and turned into dendritic cells that flag pathogens for other immune cells.
In the latest experiment with the system, the researchers found that the model immune system responded to the tuberculosis vaccine in the same way as the newborns in the clinical trials. One dose of the vaccine not only activated the dendritic cells, but also increased their ability to produce signaling molecules.
Now specialists are creating new agents that are added to the vaccine to increase its effectiveness. The system makes it possible to test them not on humans, but in a laboratory. The experts also admitted that they are working on a new vaccine against HIV.
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