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The Evolution and Mechanism of Immunological Memory and Its Impact on Immunology Research.

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The Evolution and Mechanism of Immunological Memory and Its Impact on Immunology Research.
The Evolution and Mechanism of Immunological Memory and its Impact on Immunology Research.

Recently, the Center for Disease and Control reported that it has discovered a super bug, a bacteria, that has the capability of resisting almost any antibiotic known to human. In addition to resisting antibiotics, these superbugs are deadly. Not only do the bugs cause death to half of the patients with serious infectious diseases, but they also spread their genes that make the bugs resistant to other bacteria cells (USA TODAY, 2013). This class of superbugs is known as carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE). Currently, CRE are found mainly in hospitals and nursing homes. However, if these bacteria escape into the environment, the results can be devastating. For instance, the bacteria may cause small diseases, such as the common cold, to become untreatable because the CRE alters the small disease genetics in a way where it is resistant to vaccination and other medicines (USA TODAY, 2013).
Although this type of bacteria is new and deadly, it is not the first time that the world has encountered something similar to CRE. For instance, Staphylococcus aureus is one of the well-known examples of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. One reason doctors use antibiotics is because bacteria are often resistant to the immune system of a body. The resistance of bacteria to the immune system is due to natural selection and genetic mutation. Because bacteria reproduce at a rapid rate, some bacteria that contain the adaptive, resistant traits survive and reproduce offspring that contains the resistant genes. They produce immune-resistant genes through genetic mutation. The alteration made by the genetic mutation can create a trait that is resistant to the immune system. As a result, the genetically mutated bacteria will be able to reproduce without interference from the host’s defense system.
As a powerful tool that the body uses to protect itself from pathogens and



Cited: 1. Flajnik and Hasahara, Martin F., and Masanori Kasahara. "Origin and Evolution of the Adaptive Immune System: Genetic Events and Selective Pressures." Nature Reviews Genetics 11.1 (2009): 47-59. Print. 2. Flynn, JoAnne L. "Immunology of Tuberculosis and Implications in Vaccine Development." Tuberculosis 84.1-2 (2004): 93-101. Print 3. Kurtz, Joachim. "Memory in the Innate and Adaptive Immune Systems." Microbes and Infection 6.15 (2004): 1410-417. Print 4. Lee, Yun Kyung, and Sarkis K. Mazmanian. "Has the Microbiota Played a Critical Role in the Evolution of the Adaptive Immune System?" Science 330 (2012): 1768-773. Print.Kurtz, Joachim. 5. McMichael, Andrew J., Persephone Borrow, Georgia D. Tomaras, Nilu Goonetilleke, and Barton F. Haynes. "The Immune Response during Acute HIV-1 Infection: Clues for Vaccine Development." Nature Reviews Immunology 10.1 (2009): 11-23. Print. 6. Sompayrac, Lauren. How the Immune System Works. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2008. Print 7. USA TODAY. "CDC Sounds Alarm on Deadly, Untreatable Superbugs." USA TODAY. N.p., 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2013. 8. Wu, Baojun, and Tianxiao Huan. "Domain Combination of the Vertebrate-like TLR Gene Family: Implications for Their Origin and Evolution." Journal of Genetics 90.3 (2011): 401-08. Print

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