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This year's prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for revolutionary findings that clarify how the immune system targets harmful infections while sparing the healthy tissues.

Three esteemed scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this honor.

The research uncovered specialized "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate rogue defense cells capable of attacking the body.

The discoveries are now enabling innovative treatments for immune disorders and cancer.

These winners will share a monetary award valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Crucial Findings

"Their work has been essential for understanding how the immune system functions and why we don't all develop serious self-attack conditions," commented the chair of the award panel.

This team's research explain a fundamental question: How does the defense system defend us from countless invaders while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?

The immune system employs immune cells that scan for indicators of infection, including pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

Such cells utilize sensors—called receptors—that are generated by chance in a vast number of variations.

That gives the immune system the ability to fight a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably produces immune cells that may attack the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists earlier understood that a portion of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the immune organ—where immune cells develop.

The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—known as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the system to neutralize other immune cells that attack the body's own tissues.

We know that this process malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A Nobel panel added, "The findings have established a novel area of investigation and spurred the development of new treatments, for example for cancer and immune disorders."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells block the system from fighting the growth, so studies are focused on reducing their numbers.

In self-attack disorders, trials are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the body is not under attack. A similar approach could also be effective in reducing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Innovative Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed tests on mice that had their thymus extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher showed that introducing defense cells from other mice could stop the disease—suggesting there was a system for blocking defenders from attacking the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an genetic immune disorder in mice and people that led to the identification of a genetic factor critical for the way T-regs function.

"Their pioneering research has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," commented a leading biological science expert.

"This work is a remarkable example of how basic physiological research can have far-reaching implications for human health."