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

Three esteemed scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this accolade.

The work identified unique "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning immune cells capable of attacking the organism.

The discoveries are now paving the way for innovative therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

These winners will divide a prize fund worth 11m SEK.

Decisive Findings

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

The trio's research explain a core question: How does the immune system protect us from countless infections while keeping our healthy cells intact?

Our immune system employs white blood cells that scan for indicators of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.

Such cells utilize detectors—called recognition units—that are generated by chance in a vast number of variations.

This gives the defense network the capacity to fight a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the process inevitably creates immune cells that may target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists earlier understood that some of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where white blood cells develop.

The latest award honors the identification of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to neutralize any defenders that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A prize committee added, "These findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and accelerated the creation of innovative therapies, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

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

For autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring increasing regulatory T-cells so the body is not under attack. A comparable approach could also be useful in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed experiments on mice that had their immune gland removed, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher showed that introducing defense cells from other mice could stop the disease—implying there was a mechanism for blocking defenders from harming the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and people that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"Their groundbreaking research has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," said a prominent physiology expert.

"The research is a striking example of how basic biological study can have far-reaching implications for public health."