St Vincent ’ s Fairview
The Exemption
of the hormones that set off reactions are chemical compounds consisting of amino acids in a chain , and these molecules , which are usually quite small , are known as peptides .
Hoffman ’ s persistence eventually paid off , and a peptide known as Toll , originating in a dorsal region of the insect , was found to be the elusive switch that turned everything on .
Experiments with insects with a mutation for the Toll gene revealed that flies without this trigger were rapidly overwhelmed by invading microbes .
It was then found that Toll is far from unique , and Bruce A Beutler , working in the US , was able to demonstrate that a number of similar Toll triggers exist in mammals . Since then Toll-like triggers have been found to be a universal part of our immune system , a discovery that would probably never have been made without Hoffmann ’ s dedication to fruit flies .
Immunity has two lines of defence , the first , an innate response , comes into play immediately a micro-organism is recognized as an invader . The innate response attempts to destroy the invaders by mounting a defence , and in evolutionary terms , this is the older system and it is general in that it is non-specific to any particular pathogen .
If the invaders manage to break through the innate barrier , an adaptive system comes into action in which killer cells attack specific targets . What are known as T and B cells seek out particular micro-organisms for destruction in what is literally a fight to the death . Unlike the innate response , the adaptive system ‘ learns ’ from one attack that another one could be on the way . Second time around , the adaptive immune system is primed and ready to respond quickly , and for this reason we can acquire a high degree of immunity by deliberately introducing disabled versions of common pathogens through vaccination .
How important is immunology ? Apart from the obvious importance to general health , Irish researchers are among the world leaders in this field . Based on the number of times that scientific papers are quoted , Ireland is in the best three top-performing countries , and Science Foundation Ireland has acknowledged that Trinity College Dublin is currently stands out as in the top one per cent worldwide for immunology research .
Other universities such as NUI Maynooth are actively involved in immunology research , and this is a field that attracts substantial funding from private and institutional sources .
Immunology is regarded as one of the key elements in maintaining Ireland ’ s position as a good place to invest in science . For this reason SFI , in collaboration with industry , is a big supporter of a high-powered Strategic Research Cluster at TCD headed by Professor Kingston Mills .
St Vincent ’ s Fairview
Hidden away in an area with lots of historical associations , St Vincent ’ s Hospital in Fairview has an fascinating history . Aidan Collins tells how so many colourful figures , such as the Sham Squire , Grose the antiquarian , and James Joyce all have close connections to St Vincents , and the hospital itself began with a scandal , so shameful that for years the truth was suppressed .
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Albertine Kennedy Publishing
The Exemption
An amazing story of survival through some of the darkest years of Europe ’ s recent history . Vera Hajnal tells of how invasion soon shattered an idyllic childhood . Growing up in a secure and loving family , going to school and sometimes being allowed help her father , a doctor , Vera ’ s first shock came when , accompanying her grandmother to the railway station , she was stopped by men wearing armbands who asked : “ Are you Jewish ?”
Vera describes how she survived the years that followed , and amazingly , her account has no trace of bitterness and throughout it all she never lost faith in the underlying goodness of people . Her own survival , as people were being literally rounded up and shot by paramilitary thugs , was remarkable in that on being contronted on the street she happened to be carrying a piece of paper exempting her father from military service .
Hardback € 25 Post free from www . sciencespin . com