Transplantation: 'Molecular Miscegenation' Blurs The Boundary Between Self And Non-self
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 16:07
in Biology & Nature
A new discovery by London biologists may yield new ways of handling transplant rejection. Scientists confirm the two-way transfer of a molecule that instructs the immune system to tell "self" from "non-self." By disrupting the transfer of this molecule, newly transplanted organs should become "invisible" to the host's immune system. Such an advance would be considered a major medical breakthrough.