3 facts about the immune system that blew my mind

1 . Your immune system knows every single infection you could possibly get. From the corona to the first disease that will emerge on Mars in a 100 years. This is possible because a) certain cells of the adaptive immune system (like the T-cell) have receptors that connect to bacteria and sense which antigen it is and b) your immune system has complete authority to rearrange DNA to create new cells with different targets. (sorry I don’t have any pictures of immune receptors)

2 . There is an organ whose health determines when you are going to die. This organ is the Thymus. It is located in the upper region in the thoracic cavity. It is brownish in color and looks like a dried chicken nugget. The reason this organ is so important is because it is the training ground for the immune system’s most powerful cell – the killer T-cell. The bad part is that the thymus starts dying the second you are born and it starts dying even faster when you reach puberty. This is the reason why old people are more susceptible to diseases than a 7 year old.

3. There is a cell in the body that is so dangerous that it needs to be put on a leash. This cell is called the neutrophil which, once again is an immune cell. Of course, it is not as powerful as the T-cell. This neutrophil is a common foot-soldier but attacks in many different ways. One of its attacks is called NETS and is literally a net made of poisonous acids. This is so dangerous as it kills thousands of civilian cells. Thus, the body made it such that after two minutes of fighting it automatically dies of exhaustion.