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This year's Nobel Prize in medical science was awarded for transformative findings that clarify how the body's defense network attacks harmful pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

Three renowned scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

Their research identified unique "security guards" within the defense system that eliminate rogue immune cells capable of harming the organism.

These discoveries are now enabling innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

The laureates will share a monetary award valued at 11 million SEK.

Crucial Findings

"The work has been decisive for comprehending how the immune system operates and the reason we do not all suffer from serious self-attack conditions," stated the head of the award panel.

This team's studies explain a core question: In what way does the defense system defend us from numerous invaders while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

Our body's protection system employs immune cells that scan for indicators of infection, even pathogens and germs it has not met before.

These cells utilize sensors—called recognition units—that are generated randomly in countless variations.

That provides the defense network the ability to combat a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the process inevitably creates white blood cells that may target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists earlier knew that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—the site where immune cells develop.

This year's Nobel Prize recognizes the identification of regulatory T-cells—known as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the body to neutralize any defenders that attack the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

A Nobel panel stated, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of investigation and spurred the development of new treatments, for instance for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells block the system from attacking the tumor, so studies are aimed at reducing their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A comparable approach could also be effective in reducing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their thymus removed, causing self-attack conditions.

He showed that injecting immune cells from other mice could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and people that resulted in the discovery of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"Their groundbreaking work has uncovered how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues," said a prominent physiology expert.

"The research is a striking example of how fundamental biological research can have far-reaching consequences for public health."