Lampreys and the reverse spy problem
To get around auto-reactivity obstacles, Emory/U of Toronto researchers turned to organisms that have very different immune systems from humans: lampreys.
Lampreys hint at origin of ancient immune cells
Lampreys’ alternative path hints at the evolution of the vertebrate immune system
Present at the creation: immunology from chickens to lampreys
You can get far in biology by asking: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?†Max Cooper discovered the basis of modern immunology by asking basic questions. Cooper was selected for the 2012 Dean’s Distinguished Faculty Lecture and Award, and on Thursday evening dazzled an Emory University School of Medicine audience with a tour […]
Lampreys’ alternative immune system
At Emory, Max Cooper and his colleagues have been studying lampreys’ versions of white blood cells. In a recent Nature paper, they show that lampreys have two kinds of cells that look very much like B and T cells in mammals, birds and fish.
Exotic immune systems are big business
Research on lampreys’ variable lymphocyte receptors may seem impractical. Good examples exist of weird animals’ immune systems becoming big business.
Max Cooper celebrated in Nature for 50 yrs of B cells
Studying immune cells in chickens, mice and lampreys
Alternative antibody architecture
The complex genomic apparatus for making lampreys’ antibody-like receptors