this is important for science! (poll, sort of)

[MrsPotatohead]

As you might have noticed I'm doing a little teaching on the side (several different opportunities and age groups), so naturally you can be my guinea pigs   I have to explain something and I'd like to know how YOU would answer these (also please note if this is a specialty of yours or if you work in medicine, i.e. are cheating, j/k).

Any/all of these questions:
- what is the immune system?
- what types of things does your immune system remember?
- how and why does it remember?
- which cells in your body can do this?
- how do vaccines work?

If it makes you feel any better, I'm not sure I would have really known the answers to these questions had I not gone to grad school to study it for a bajillion years, lol, so even if you write "I have no idea" that's totally ok and helpful!  This is partly for what I'm working on and partly because I'm curious how the general public sees different topics in science... maybe some day I can find a job where I can communicate topics like this to people or something   If I become famous I'll give you all credit for helping me get started (heart)

ETA: I want to clarify that I'm not testing you, even if you think your answer is only partially right or whatever, I just want to know what you think happens - what is your impression of how it works.  Since I can't 'unlearn' what I know (and spend every waking hour doing these days), I really want to know what people actually retained from HS biology or if you never learned it in the first place or if you found out from NPR the other day.  Thanks for the help

[MrsPotatohead]

look, cute gifs!

[tacocat]

I don't want to answer because of how much time I have spent studying this in school. But I wanted to post because I am excited for you and love cute animal GIFs

[MrsPotatohead]

Oct 17, 2014 20:46:21 GMT -5 tacocat said:

I don't want to answer because of how much time I have spent studying this in school. But I wanted to post because I am excited for you and love cute animal GIFs

that's ok, I'll consider you to be a 'cheater' and probably would have skewed the results

[kwpnjumper55]

I think I would be a cheater too.

[mrslefty]

Ooo I'll do it in the am when I have a real keyboard to type on.

[tacocat]

Oct 17, 2014 21:27:30 GMT -5 MrsPotatohead said:

Oct 17, 2014 20:46:21 GMT -5 tacocat said:

I don't want to answer because of how much time I have spent studying this in school. But I wanted to post because I am excited for you and love cute animal GIFs

that's ok, I'll consider you to be a 'cheater' and probably would have skewed the results

Being a bio major who had to re-do A&P and currently in nursing school. 



Maybe. Lol

[Deleted]

- what is the immune system?
The immune system is the system in your body that fights the germs to keep you healthy.
- what types of things does your immune system remember?
Uhhhh.... is this like building a resistance to antibiotics? I didn't know it remembers things. Wait! It remembers (knows?) the good cells from the bad cells, or at least it should, so that it doesn't attack your good cells. That's cancer right? When it attacks your good cells thinking they're bad cells? 
- how and why does it remember?
It does this because then it can spend less energy figuring out which cells are good and which cells are bad. Like it just sees the cell and it's like, oh cool we're buds, I won't attack you or intruder! I'm soooo going to shank you. I'm pretty sure the immune system remembers by taking selfies with the good cells. 
- which cells in your body can do this?
Uhmm..... the ones that have lpng arms to take good selfies. 
- how do vaccines work?
I want to say that it gives your body a "dead" virus so that it knows how to fight it, but then I also remember hearing that a flu shot doesn't actually give you a flu virus, so um... I'm just going to go with dead virus. 


signed, 
a communications and sociology major 

Dude, I sucked at this. Big time. 

[MrsPotatohead]

@uwhuskygirl yay! thank you for helping me out, here's a 'cookie'

[Deleted]

MrsPotatohead, how far off was I? email me if you need to keep this going

[ilovebed]

The immune system is what keeps us healthy by fighting off infections and foreign invaders in our bodies.

It remembers the past viruses that have been fought and I think it remembers by building antibodies for that particular virus.

It's white blood cells that do the fighting.

Vaccines work by introducing dead viruses into our bodies and it gives our bodies a chance to create antibodies so that when the live virus is introduced we already have the immunity.

[MrsPotatohead]

On my phone now but can PM people who want to know how they did and give out more cookies when I get home

[mrslefty]

Okay the immune system keeps us healthy by fighting off infection (viral and bacterial as well as foreign matter like an organ in a transplant or the piece of wood I had stuck in my leg that finally got pushed out. Ooops. Should a gone to the doctor.

The immune system remembers viruses and bacteria. This is why vaccines work, it builds immunity to the virus.

White blood cells (t cells and b cells? I think? Why was biology so long ago?)

[Deleted]

Any/all of these questions:
- what is the immune system?
The system that controls immunity It's the system that your body uses to wage biochemical warfare on things it deems invaders to the body, or things that are "wrong". Unfortunately, it can go haywire itself and misidentify things, which is how we get diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (the body attacks its own joints).

- what types of things does your immune system remember?
Previous viruses and bacteria it has battled and for which it has developed antibodies, what belongs to the body and considers everything else to be dangerous "other"

- how and why does it remember?  How, I don't actually know. Why, so that it can save time and resources so if that invader shows up again, it can quickly send in the troops appropriately armed and deal with the infection, etc, more effectively. 

- which cells in your body can do this?
Lymph nodes which produce leukocytes (edited, realized I typed a made up thing), antibodies


- how do vaccines work?
They introduce DEAD virus cells in to the body so that the immune system can identify it and start figuring out how to create the appropriate antibodies and "study" how to kill it. That way, when the body encounters the living version, it can fight it off.
Bad analogy: I've been binge-watching Supernatural. I now know through safe tv watching (dead virus cells) that if I encounter a spirit, I just have to salt and burn the bones (antibodies). So if I ever encounter one off my couch, I won't go in to a tizzy trying to figure out how to kill it, I can just immediately attack.

[MrsPotatohead]

ilovebed here is your cookie!

[MrsPotatohead]

mrslefty cookie!

[MrsPotatohead]

@ksta very thorough! macarons!

[Deleted]

I just edited mine, I was rushing and realized I did not type leukocyte which was the word in my head. I blame a lap kitteh who was furious I was typing instead of skritching! Of course, leukocyte could be wrong but that's the word I think of.

[mrslefty]

Oooo my cookies are beautiful!

[MrsPotatohead]

I randomly found this cookie in my google search, someone needs to earn it!

[mrslefty]

Oct 18, 2014 23:51:32 GMT -5 MrsPotatohead said:

I randomly found this cookie in my google search, someone needs to earn it!

Something tells me talking about the immune system is not what you have to do to earn this cookie.