Using CRISPR, single -
celled organisms recognize a viral invader and activate proteins that shred its DNA into pieces.
Not exact matches
The human immune system is adept at
recognizing antigens it has met before: Antibodies snap onto the projecting viral proteins and prevent the
organism from infecting other
cells.
Most biologists typically
recognize three official branches of life: the eukaryotes, which are
organisms whose
cells have a nucleus; bacteria, the single -
celled organisms that may or may not possess a nucleus; and archaea, an ancient line of microbes without nuclei that may make up as much as a third of all life on Earth (See «Will the Methane Bubble Burst?»
And, in the future, the potential to insert barcodes in genes and the development of in - line ID kits, that
recognize specific strains of
cell lines, could make it easier to verify new
organisms and their protein products, and track products through supply chains.
They
recognize and phagocytose foreign
organisms, release antimicrobial peptides, secrete molecules that attract other immune
cells to areas of infection, and present antigens to lymphocytes (64).
The trick with subtractive immunization is to first tolerize an
organism - with a non-metastatic tumor
cell, using an immune suppressant chemical like cyclophosphamide to kill off all the immune
cells that
recognize the immunodominant antigens.
These specialized
cells in the immune system
recognize organisms that invade the body and provide protection against disease.