Issue 21 | January 2015
Immune System
The immune system is what keeps us healthy in spite of the many organisms and substances that can do us harm. In this issue, explore how our bodies are designed to prevent potentially harmful objects from getting inside, and what happens when bacteria, viruses, fungi or other foreign organisms or substances breach these barriers.
What’s it all about?
Immune system by numbers infographic
A snapshot of immunity and allergy
Animation: Developing immunological memory
Watch or download our animation, which shows how the levels of antibodies change during the specific (adaptive) immune response
Poster: The immune response
Get to grips with the immune response with our poster, free to download or order
Staying alive
What’s the immune system for?
Know thyself
How does the immune system know you’re you?
Defences down
Different factors can suppress our immune systems
Measured responses
The immune system can overreact
A tale of two diseases
The immune system is involved in both types of diabetes
That’s disgusting!
Disgust helps protect us from disease and illness
Invasion and infection
Know your enemy
Our bodies are homes to millions of organisms
Ways in
Barriers help protect our insides from outside
Going viral
How diseases spread
Second-line defences
The innate immune system gets to work fast
Out of sight
Some infections are with us for life
Cold or flu?
People sometimes confuse these very different viruses
Case study: TB
Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis
The specific immune response
Animation: Developing immunological memory
Watch or download our animation, which shows how the levels of antibodies change during the specific (adaptive) immune response
Getting into specifics
B cells and T cells give us an immunological memory
Present and correct
Antigen recognition is a key part of the immune response
Appliance of antibodies
We can exploit the ability of antibodies to bind to a specific antigen
Antibodies attack
Antibodies are specialised proteins that bind to antigens
Rejection
Organ donation requires a good match between donor and recipient
Building immunity
Long-term protection
There are several different types of immunity
A shot in the arm
Vaccines come in different forms
Outbreak
How can science keep up with Ebola?
Underexposure
Is being exposed to dirt good for you?
Investigating immunotherapy
New therapies are looking to use the immune system directly
Nine facts about pregnancy and the immune system
Why aren’t fetuses rejected? How can pregnancy help certain conditions? How does breastfeeding help the baby? And more...
Swallow your pride
Can parasites help treat autoimmune disease?
Vaccines: how and when are they given?
Rob Reddick explores how vaccines are designed to work most effectively in the body
Vaccines: what’s inside?
What goes into vaccines, and why
Vaccines: how well do they work, and are they safe?
The facts about vaccines
Ethical questions
Vaccination: who decides?
Personal choice and public safety may clash
Organ donation: whose consent?
A potential donor’s wishes may not be known – read through the background information and decide whether you agree with presumed consent
Infectious disease research: what’s allowed?
Keeping deadly viruses secure in the lab
Case study: TB
Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Real Voices interviews
Real Voices interview: Brittany Elce
Meet Brittany, a sixth-form student who has Crohn’s disease
Real Voices interview: Ann Lee Hussey
Meet Ann, a volunteer with Rotary International working on polio immunisation campaigns
Real Voices interview: Bobby Gaspar
Meet Bobby, a paediatrician at Great Ormond Street Hospital
Video: Living with early-onset arthritis
Meet Charlotte, a young mother with severe rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune condition that attacks an individual’s joints
Historical aspects
The history of vaccination
Jenner, vaccines and Blossom the cow
The history of germ theory
Germ theory and two of the scientists behind it: Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch
The history of blood types
What are blood types, and why are they important?
The history of antibodies
Experiments that led to the discovery of antibodies
The history of the major histocompatibility complex
How we came to discover the MHC
Activities and lesson ideas
Guess Which Immune Component! game
Our card game is the perfect way to revise the roles of the different cells and proteins that make up the human immune system
Lesson idea: Design a poster for poo transplants
It might be hard to imagine, but researchers are examining the potential for poo transplants in treating a number of conditions including bacterial gut infections
Immune system by numbers infographic
A snapshot of immunity and allergy
Additional lesson ideas for ‘Big Picture: Immune System’
Here are more ways to use our issue in the classroom
Further resources and activities on the immune system
The Wellcome Trust has funded other organisations to produce the following activities and resources related to understanding the immune system
Fast Facts
Each issue of 'Big Picture' comes with a sprinkling of Fast Facts, fascinating snippets of information on the topic covered.