Bitesize Immunology

We live in peak popularity of the term inflammation, so what exactly is it? - Inflammation is good for you - Did you know fever is not caused by pathogens, rather it is your immune system making you feel miserable, why does it do that? - what are the types of inflammation? Transcript at najjar.blog

T cells and their types: bounty hunter, personal trainer, plumber with anxiety, lobbyist, oracle, and the patron saint of antigens For illustrations of T cells as I imagine them on this podcast, follow me on bluesky bsky.app/profile/rna-guy.bsky.social Transcript at najjar.blog Can you guess why the plumber T cells have anxiety?

Neutrophils are the first responders of the immune system. I describe what they are and their name origin. Then I discuss neutrophil features in 5 parts including how they sometimes explode kamikaze style! - Part I: First responders - Part II: Bleach spray - Part III: Kamikaze - Part IV: Healers - Part V: Understudied

Lymphocytes have surface receptors that recognize antigens. These receptors have existing templates that are complementary to the 3D structures of antigens from viruses and other pathogens, even before you encounter these pathogens. How is this possible? In this episode, I answer the question above, plus I talk about the following: - Lymphocyte types including B cells and T cells - The self vs non...

What would it feel like if you were attacked by antibodies? Antibodies are custom made weapons produced by the immune system to target pathogens. In this episode, I make an analogy of how antibodies attack, and tell stories of a fox hunting rabbits, a castle under attack, and two types of leaves. These stories illustrate the functions of antibodies. Disclaimer: I am a physician scientist at the Un...

The immune system needs to find out if there's a microbe such as a virus that's replicating and causing an infection, plus the immune system wants to collect information about the virus in order to target it with custom-made weapons. I use multiple analogies to explain what dendritic cells do in 4 chapters: - Chapter 1 Surveillance. Dendritic cells are like radar workers, constantly lookin...

I am a physician scientist in rheumatology, which is a field of medicine that specializes in autoimmune diseases. Immunology has a reputation of being complex and hard to understand.  I hope this podcast will help people in biology and medical fields to better understand the immune system. I also hope any one with an interest in biology can learn and find inspiration in this podcast. I will try to...