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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was granted for transformative discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

A trio of esteemed scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The work uncovered specialized "security guards" within the immune system that remove rogue defense cells that could attacking the body.

These discoveries are now paving the way for innovative treatments for immune disorders and malignancies.

The laureates will divide a monetary award valued at 11m SEK.

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been decisive for comprehending how the body's defenses operates and the reason we do not all develop serious self-attack conditions," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This team's studies address a fundamental question: How does the immune system defend us from numerous invaders while keeping our own tissues intact?

Our immune system employs white blood cells that scan for indicators of disease, including pathogens and germs it has never encountered.

These defenders utilize detectors—known as recognition units—that are produced randomly in countless combinations.

That gives the defense network the capacity to fight a broad range of threats, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably produces white blood cells that may target the body.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists previously knew that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—where immune cells develop.

The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the body's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to neutralize any defenders that assault the body's own tissues.

It is known that this process malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The Nobel panel added, "The findings have established a novel area of investigation and spurred the development of new treatments, for instance for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the body from attacking the growth, so research are focused on lowering their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A similar approach could also be effective in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed experiments on mice that had their immune gland extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

He showed that introducing defense cells from healthy mice could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a gene critical for how T-regs operate.

"Their pioneering work has uncovered how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the body's own tissues," said a leading physiology expert.

"This work is a striking example of how fundamental physiological research can have far-reaching consequences for public health."