Several lines of evidence suggest that targeting the body’s defense pathways might help treat a subset of people with the psychiatric disorder. But many open questions remain.
Immunologists and parasitologists are working to revive the idea that helminths, and more specifically the molecules they secrete, could help treat allergies and autoimmune disease.
Researchers find that the protective outer layer that lungfish make to survive extended dry periods—once thought to be a simple mucus shell—contains immune cells that trap bacteria and protect the animals from infection.
The microbiota helps align a mouse’s innate immune system with its feeding patterns, prepping the animal to fend off infection when it’s most likely to be eating.
Four dozen children with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) who received a corrective gene carried by a virus have working immune systems two to three years later, according to three independent clinical trials.