Biology / Unit 13 Bio 3301 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Autoimmune Disease Mechanism
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The idea
Autoimmune disease occurs when adaptive immune receptors, per Bio 3275, mistakenly target the body's own structures as foreign antigens.
In practice
Self-reactive lymphocytes that escape normal elimination can persist and attack the body's own tissue.
Where people slip
Autoimmunity is the immune system attacking the body's own tissue; immunodeficiency is its failure to attack anything. Students routinely swap them.
Your place on the trail
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