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Article: Immune System
- Article from:
- World of Microbiology and Immunology
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Immune system
The immune system is the body's biological defense mechanism that protects against foreign invaders. Only in the last century have the components of that system and the ways in which they work been discovered, and more remains to be clarified.
The true roots of the study of the immune system date from 1796 when an English physician,
Edward Jenner
, discovered a method of
smallpox vaccination
. He noted that dairy workers who contracted
cowpox
from milking infected cows were thereafter resistant to smallpox. In 1796, Jenner injected a young boy with material from a milkmaid who had an active case of cowpox. After the boy recovered from his own resulting cowpox, Jenner ...