Talk:Adaptive immune system

"Brains"(?)

Okay, I've removed this statement, again,

The "brains" of the adaptive system is the recombination of DNA, that produces new protein molecules to be tested against the threats.

The problem here is that this statement is wholly subjective, overly simplistic, anthropomorphizes a mechanism, and doesn't belong in the introduction. There are many mechanisms that contribute to immunity, including (but not limited to) the four listed at the bottom of the page in the see also section, antigen presentation, clonal selection, etc.... Each of these are important mechanisms--DO11.10 23:43, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

The introduction should point out the genetic origin of the adaptability. It does not matter how many "contributing mechanisms" the individual inherited from its parents, if it cannot create the molecules and cell lines needed for the specific threat.

I seems that the articles on immunology were missing the "big picture". There were few links to V(D)J recombination, and even less to the memory cells. It maybe that immunologists are taking the genetic origin of the adaptive immune system for granted and concentrating on individual cell or molecule level mechanisms. Wikipedia is and general purpose encyclopedia, and these things have to be spelled out.

I rewrote the sentence exluding "brains". -- Petri Krohn 15:23, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

Chimeras

The section on "Adaptive immunity during pregnancy" might benefit from mention of Chimeras. --61.214.155.14 05:09, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Umm...(I title like this a lot)

About the "Passive Memory," is it still correct? I think I've read something somewhere disputing that...(great; something somewhere) Can someone check it?(See, I'm not so sure... but it might turn out with something...) --Heero Kirashami (talk) 21:22, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Article is Unintelligible

It is very hard to see the wood for the trees, particularly given all the latin/greek jargon. How on earth can a single cell do the complex three dimensional analysis to determine self from non-self? The "Brains" above needs to be expanded to show the system as opposed to just a list of names for all the moving parts. Tuntable (talk) 04:13, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

            explain how the immune system responds to specific pathogens?

• Humoral immunity:is the aspect of immunity that is mediated by secreted antibodies.

• cell-mediated immunity:Cell-mediated immunity is an immune response that does not involve antibodies or complement but rather involves the activation of macrophages

• active immuity:The adaptive immune system is composed of highly specialized, systemic cells and processes that eliminate or prevent pathogenic challenges.

• passive immunity:Passive immunity is the transfer of active humoral immunity in the form of readymade antibodies, from one individual to another. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 163.150.22.16 (talk) 17:46, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Hey there--can the expert please mention more specifics about IgA, IgG, IgM, etc. This is crucial info, as this aspect of immunology is probably THE most common that the lay person public is coming into contact with through blood testing- whether it is for H.Pylori, Hep B, or a food allergy panel, the lay person is seeing any number of these immunoglobulins listed, and should be able to easily look up and see- Oh, such and such means current infection, or chronic, or past exposure, etc. thanks- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.212.181.178 (talk) 15:38, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Bacteria

DOes the adaptive immune system work aginst bacteria like Staph infections?