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This year's Nobel Prize in medical science was awarded for transformative findings that illuminate how the body's defense network targets dangerous infections while sparing the body's own cells.

Three esteemed scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

Their work uncovered specialized "sentinels" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning defense cells that could harming the body.

The findings are now enabling new therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These winners will share a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"The work has been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and why we don't all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's research explain a core question: How does the defense system defend us from numerous invaders while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

Our immune system uses white blood cells that scan for indicators of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.

These defenders employ sensors—called recognition units—that are produced by chance in countless combinations.

That gives the immune system the capacity to combat a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process inevitably produces immune cells that can attack the body.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists earlier understood that a portion of these harmful defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where white blood cells mature.

This year's award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—known as the body's "security guards"—which travel through the system to neutralize any immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

It is known that this process malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A Nobel panel added, "The findings have laid the foundation for a new field of research and accelerated the creation of innovative therapies, for instance for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding malignancies, regulatory T-cells block the body from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on lowering their quantity.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing boosting T-reg cells so the body is no longer under attack. A comparable approach could also be effective in reducing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on mice that had their thymus extracted, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher showed that injecting defense cells from other animals could prevent the disease—implying there was a system for blocking defenders from harming the host.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in rodents and people that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their groundbreaking research has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues," commented a prominent physiology expert.

"This work is a remarkable example of how fundamental biological study can have broad implications for public health."