Discovering the Immune System

One of my favourite modules in Year 1 was Infection, Inflammation and Repair (MEDC0005). Bacteria, viruses, parasites didn’t grab my attention, but I was fascinated by the complexity of the immune system: the coordinated response of our innate and adaptive armies against pathogens involves a number of different cell types, signalling molecules and cellular processes. Above all, my interest was caught by the fine balance between the neutralising power of the immune system and its potential for damage against our own tissues.

For the assessment of this module we were asked to create a diagram encompassing all the events from the entry of bacteria through a wound to the development of highly specific antibodies. In other words, we were asked to represent when, where and how the immune system is activated and responds to a pathogenic insult.

This piece of coursework made me realise the importance of figures  in scientific communication, as well as some of the challenges of representing cellular and molecular processes. Our figures needed to be easily readable, with arrows or “zoom-in” boxes to provide additional molecular detail – this is was necessary also to comply with the tight word limit for the review-like essay accompanying the diagrams.

Here is the one of the 3 figures I made.*

I certainly developed some valuable skills, not least in the use of online tools, such as Biorender, and PowerPoint, for both adapting existing diagrams and creating them from scratch.

While completing the coursework I appreciated how tightly regulated our immune response is. Yet, I found that many steps could “go wrong”, shifting that key balance between host defence and host damage towards the development of autoimmunity. The end point: I decided to choose Immunology (INIM0005) as one of my two optional modules for Year 2.