Immunology Module
Our immune system is designed to protect us from any potential pathogen that may invade our bodies. How can our bodies anticipate and defend us from pathogens? How do vaccines protect us from infection? Antibodies are proteins that can recognize viruses and bacteria and help the body to fight infection. Like all proteins, antibodies are encoded in the DNA of our cells. The B cells in our body can generate 1011 different antibodies capable of recognizing any type of pathogen that might invade our body. If the human genome only consists of 30,000 genes, how can we get 100,000,000,000 different antibodies? This module will address these questions and will familiarize students with the following concepts from the North Carolina Standards of Competency: the immune response, genetics, cell specialization, and communication among cells in an organism.