DEFINITION
Immunity is defined in the short term Oxford dictionary as: 'a secure state, an exemption'.
In our case, this is an exemption from infectious diseases.
Immunology is the study of the immune system and its effects on the body and on invading micro-organisms.
This is all straightforward so far.
However, our immune system does more than just protect us from invasion by micro-organisms.
The immune system is an intricate system of cells, enzymes, and proteins, which together protect us by making us resistant (i.e. IMMUNE) to infection by micro-organisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi) as well as larger organisms such as worms.
The first important point to make is that the immune system can have both good and harmful effects on us.
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DO
Before going on, just take a moment to write down what you consider to be the good and harmful sides of our immune systems, and then check your work by clicking on the appropriate hyperlink below. |
Good side of the Immune System
Harmful side of the Immune System