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This year's prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for revolutionary findings that illuminate how the immune system targets dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.

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

The research identified specialized "security guards" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning defense cells that could attacking the organism.

These discoveries are now paving the way for new therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

These winners will divide a prize fund valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"Their research has been decisive for understanding how the immune system operates and why we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," stated the head of the award panel.

This trio's studies explain a fundamental mystery: In what way does the defense system protect us from countless invaders while leaving our healthy cells intact?

The immune system employs white blood cells that search for signs of disease, including viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.

Such cells employ sensors—known as recognition units—that are produced randomly in a vast number of combinations.

That provides the defense network the capacity to combat a broad range of threats, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably creates white blood cells that can target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists earlier knew that a portion of these harmful white blood cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where white blood cells mature.

The latest award recognizes the identification of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the body to neutralize other immune cells that attack the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism fails in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A prize committee added, "These findings have established a novel area of investigation and accelerated the creation of new therapies, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

Regarding malignancies, T-regs block the body from attacking the growth, so studies are aimed at lowering their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing boosting T-reg cells so the body is not under attack. A similar approach could also be effective in minimizing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, conducted experiments on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, causing autoimmune disease.

The researcher demonstrated that injecting immune cells from healthy mice could prevent the illness—implying there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an genetic immune disorder in mice and humans that led to the discovery of a genetic factor critical for how T-regs operate.

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

"This research is a striking illustration of how fundamental biological study can have far-reaching implications for public health."