Carabin

The BBC is reporting that John’s Hopkins researchers have discovered one of the ways the immune system naturally restricts its own activity. Carabin is a protein produced by white blood cells, and places a drag on the immune reponse to an infection. Why would the body want to cripple its own immune response? [...]

Update: M.S. and Parasites

Earlier I reported some confusion as to the explanation given by the South Coast Today regarding the effects of stomach parasites on the course of M.S. in an Argentinian study.
Wednesday’s BBC report on the same subject was more informative. The comparison between the accounts is equally illuminating. When explaining the cause [...]

Krauthammer’s Stem Cell Showdown

Over the past couple of years the news has been full of the unbounded promise that exists in the world of embryonic stem cell research. Nary a voice in the mainstream exists that would forgive any limitations on stem cell research. It shows promise for understanding cancer, it shows promise in treating nerve [...]

Mysterious Still

In the Febuary issue Nature Immunology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers uncover one immune system mystery and claim more lurk in the distance.
The question is this, How does the small intestine, a veritable biosphere of helpful (but still foreign) bacteria escape the heavy hand of the immune system that is supposed to repel foreign microbes? [...]

Why do bad things happen to good cells?

Disease is often associated with weakness and inability.  While an infection signals that your immune system is falling behind the microbes that are always in our bodies, autoimmune diseases signal exactly the opposite, that your immune system is fully operational.  At least the final execution stage is.  It’s in such good shape [...]