Choose one concept in our lesson today, give a brief explanation about the concept, and cite how would you apply this learning in your everyday life.
With adaptive immunity, once the body encounters a specific antigen, lymphocytes undergo clonal selection wherein memory cells are produced. These memory cells do not go away after the immune response finishes and 'store' information about the antigen. These cells are important in creating immunological memory as they allow a more effective response on the second or next encounters with the antigen. Memory B cells create the antibodies, while memory T cells coordinate the immune responses.
This is the concept that is used in vaccines, allowing our bodies to create memory cells for different antigens without causing the actual disease, also called artificial active immunity. I also remembered how people say that once you've already experienced chickenpox, you'll be immune to it forever. My mother has said once that I've already experienced having chickenpox back when I was a baby, so it will be unlikely for me to experience it again. Now I realize that this is because of the antibodies that my body produced when I got it for the first time. This concept is also called natural active immunity.
Tortora, G. J., & Derrickson, B. (2017). Principles of anatomy & physiology. Fifteenth edition; Wiley Loose-Leaf Print Companion. Hoboken, New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.