Functions of Immune System in Biotechnology

We are moving round and round along the term ‘Immune system’ in every post and today we will learn about the various Functions of the immune system.

Before moving ahead, let’s just recall some basic information about Immune System.

The Immune System is a bundle of tissues which work together to prevent infections and can detect and identify many types of foreign and harmful agents. These harmful agents can be virus, bacteria and parasites.

Now we will pen down the important Functions of Immune System,

Functions of Immune System:

·        The Immune System has the ability to detect the difference between body’s own healthy cells and foreign harmful cells, which helps them to cancel or neutralize their threat.

·        Immune System creates antibodies to fight against pathogens and direct the special cells (phagocytes) to eat them up or kill them.

·        The innate component of Immune System protects the host body from infection in a non specific way through several mechanisms comprising of The Complement System, Antimicrobial peptides and Phagocytosis.

·        The most sophisticated defense mechanism is provided by the Adaptive category of Immune System. The Adaptive Immuneresponse possess the ability to remember and recognize specific pathogens, thus mounts stronger attacks , each time a pathogen is encountered.

·        The Immune System works under three lines of defense:

Ø First line of defense : Acts as a barrier

Ø Second line of defense : An inflammatory response is produced

Ø Third line of defense : Immune System targets specific pathogens.

·        The Immune System functions can be broadly termed as “Defense,  Auto tolerance and Immune Surveillance”

Ø Defense (To identify and protect against pathogenic micro organisms and their toxins)

Ø Auto tolerance (To recognize own tissues and be tolerant towards them)

Ø Immune Surveillance (To identify and remove the old, damaged and otherwise changed cells)

I hope all the points regarding the topic “Functions of Immune System” will be clear to you.

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Happy Biotechnology Learning!!!