Ancient Antibody Molecule Offers Clues To How Humans Evolved Allergies

Saturday, June 14, 2008 - 00:35 in Biology & Nature

Scientists have discovered how evolution may have lumbered humans with allergy problems. The team are working on a molecule vital to a chicken's immune system which represents the evolutionary ancestor of the human antibodies that cause allergic reactions. Crucially, they have discovered that the chicken molecule behaves quite differently from its human counterpart, which throws light on the origin and cause of allergic reactions in humans and gives hope for new strategies for treatment.

Read the whole article on Science Daily

More from Science Daily

Latest Science Newsletter

Get the latest and most popular science news articles of the week in your Inbox! It's free!

Check out our next project, Biology.Net