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The Nobel Prize in medical science was granted for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this honor.

Their research identified specialized "security guards" within the immune system that remove rogue defense cells capable of harming the body.

These findings are now paving the way for innovative treatments for immune disorders and cancer.

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

Crucial Discoveries

"Their research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses functions and why we don't all suffer from severe self-attack conditions," commented the head of the award panel.

This team's studies address a core question: How does the defense system protect us from numerous infections while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

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

Such defenders utilize detectors—known as receptors—that are generated randomly in a vast number of combinations.

That gives the immune system the capacity to combat a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably produces white blood cells that can target the body.

Protectors of the Body

Scientists previously understood that some of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the immune organ—the site where white blood cells mature.

This year's award honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to disarm any defenders that attack the healthy cells.

It is known that this mechanism fails in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A Nobel panel added, "The discoveries have established a new field of research and accelerated the development of innovative treatments, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

Regarding malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from fighting the tumor, so studies are focused on lowering their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is not being harmed. A similar approach could also be useful in minimizing the chances of organ transplant failure.

Innovative Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, conducted experiments on rodents that had their immune gland removed, causing autoimmune disease.

He demonstrated that introducing defense cells from healthy animals could stop the illness—suggesting there was a system for blocking defenders from harming the host.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in mice and people that led to the identification of a genetic factor vital for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their pioneering research has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from accidentally targeting the body's own tissues," commented a leading biological science expert.

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