The Nobel Prize in medicine goes to 3 scientists for key immune system discoveries

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for discoveries about how the immune system knows to attack germs and not our own bodies.

The work by Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi uncovered a key pathway the body uses to keep the immune system in check, called peripheral immune tolerance. Experts called the findings critical to understanding autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

In separate projects over several years, the trio of scientists — two in the U.S. and one in Japan — identified the importance of what are now called regulatory T cells. Scientists are currently using those findings in a variety of ways: to discover better treatments for autoimmune diseases, to improve organ transplant success and to enhance the body’s own fight against cancer, among others.

“Their discoveries have been decisive for our understanding of how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases,” said Olle Kämpe, chair of the Nobel Committee.

https://apnews.com/article/nobel-prize-medicine-a68cf8a3b930570630168a949d277cde