With the population growing at such a high rate and large amounts of waste also accumulating, coming across diseases and life threatening viruses are inevitable. With the vast amount of diseases present, our bodies quickly adapt to become resistant to many of these diseases. Our immune system is able to create antibodies for any particular antigen and place these antibodies in our immunological memory so that we can destroy that particular pathogen much more quickly if it ever invades our bodies again. When antigens, foreign substances in the body, are present, antibodies are created to respond to that particular kind of antigen. That antibody recognizes the antigen and kills it with the help of T cells, which are a type of white blood cells. Once these antibodies are created they are in our bodies forever and we are considered immune to that disease. This relates to Big Idea 3: Living systems store, receive, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes.
These antibodies can then be passed down from mother to child through a process called passive immunity. Therefore, at birth, the child will be immune to many of the diseases that the mom had antibodies for.
In Survival of the Sickest, Dr. Sharon Moalem addresses the importance of vaccinations which are also a type of passive immunity. Vaccinations allow our bodies to produce the antibodies of many viruses by introducing a weakened version of the virus. Moalem states that, “...we stimulate our immune systems to produce antibodies specifically tailored to defense against that virus” (Moalem 126). These antibodies will protect our bodies and shoot down any foreign invader!
If the antibodies are present in our bodies after we receive the vaccine, why must we be vaccinated multiple times throughout our lifetime? Is it possible to develop a vaccine that does not require more than one vaccination?
If viruses require more than one vaccination, will the antibodies they create be of any help to children if they are passed down from the mother?
Finally, Moalem states that, “...genes can change” (Moalem 126). How do changes in genes affect the antibodies we produce and are there any potential benefits or disadvantages to this? Explain.
(Ted Nowak, tnowak4@students.d125.org)
Vaccines contain a weakened form of a microbe; this is called active artificial immunity. Active immunity is when the immune system can recognize the foreign invader, kill the virus, and create memory cells to destroy the invader if it comes into contact with the body again. You need to be vaccinated multiple times in order to keep your immune system stocked with the right antibodies, if you get infected. This allows the immune system to act faster than the first exposure. Currently there are single dose vaccines but are more expensive (Source 1).
ReplyDeleteIf the mother is vaccinated, then the antibodies would be passed down to the child. This is because the fetus shared blood with their mother, when inside the womb. Although the placenta prevents leukocytes from attacking the fetus, antibodies can pass through, and the fetus would pick up some antibodies from the mother, even if the antibodies came from a vaccine.
Changes in genes can determine how much we express a certain trait. At the variable ends of an antibody are different genes expressed. The different combination of genes determines which antigen the antibody can fight. If there is a change in a gene, either the antibody can better fight off an antigen or the antibody is maladapted and cannot fight the targeted antigen.
1) Setting Prices for New Vaccines (in Advance)
Thomas G. McGuire International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics , Vol. 3, No. 3 (Sep., 2003), pp. 207-224
Anna Podber
(apodber3@students.d125.org)