Developed the first artificial immune system
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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When a child is born, his immune system is not yet sufficiently formed and he is helpless in the face of infections. Vaccination of newborns, according to Gusman Sanchez-Schmits from Harvard Medical School, is the only option that can save children, especially in Africa and Asia.
However, doctors do not have many childhood vaccines. The thing is that the immune system of a child reacts to immunization in a way that is not adult. Predicting her reaction is now possible thanks to the new system, writes New Scientist.
The scientists took the umbilical cord blood and used it to get two types of cells: those that make up the walls of the vessels, and white blood cells that trigger the immune response. These cells were grown in a collagenous base. The last element is the plasma of the newborn.
Thus, the first artificial immune system was obtained, made entirely of the components of the human body and acting as a system of a newborn child. Scientists were able to observe how white blood cells passed the cells that formed the walls of the vessels, and turned into dendritic cells that mark pathogens for other immune cells.
During the last experiment with the system, specialists found out: the immune system model reacted to the vaccine against tuberculosis in the same way as newborns in clinical trials. One dose of the vaccine not only activated dendritic cells, but also increased their ability to produce signaling molecules.
Now, experts create new agents added to the vaccine to increase efficiency. The system makes it possible to test them not in person, but in the laboratory. Experts also admitted: they are working on a new vaccine against HIV.
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