Gene to Reset Immune System

When we fall ill the body usually gets an infection from outside the body. These infectious cells are then engaged in a battle with our immune system, which is like our protective army inside the body. When all the infected cells are defeated the immune system gets reset from attack mode to wait and watch mode. At times the immune system stays in attack mode a bit longer than it needs to and may end up harming other regular cells of our body.

A research team at Duke University has been studying the worm C. elegans by infecting them with the common bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica. Gene chip technology was used to see what genes were active during the infection and then when the worms were treated by an antibiotic what genes shut down the immune system’s response.

What they discovered was that there was a master switch of sorts in the genes that turned the immune system on and off depending on the state of infection present in the worm. Now this is critical information which was unveiled by the science project that could have a great many practical uses. The way medication is manipulated in the body could change forever if we could turn our immune system on and off at will.