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Immunology

© Vizzir

Immunology - complex? difficult? boring?! It doesn't need to be. Like with anything else, you must know how to approach the subject. The choice of books and where you start may play a great role in your understanding of the topic. You should find out which book suits you; what you need to know at the end of the day will be the same as anyone else, but you may not like the way the author goes about describing the processes. Although one can argue that any book can get you through, the time you would take may be quite different. I find getting to know the greater picture before taking care of the minute details helps in better understanding the whole thing. That's where where you start counts! You may like to check out the following sites for a start. Of course, you will have to return to your books afterwards.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/immune-syst... I would strongly recommend this webpage as a starting point, before moving on to the fine details. "How Your Immune System Works" describes the functioning of the immune system in a simple language understandable by everyone. It deals with: -Basics of the Immune System -Components of the immune system -Bacteria and Viruses -How Antibiotics Work -When the Immune System makes a Mistake

http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Bact303/Immunol... Immunology and Immune Defense against Microbial Pathogens I think that you should consider reading this webpage next. It goes into a bit more detail and the sequence in which it describes things is particularly good. It includes some pictures and tables for easy understanding as well.

http://www.kumc.edu/AMA-MSS/study/micro1... Here you will get a very good brief about immunology, including: -Introduction and Immunohistology -Immunoglobulin Structure and Immunogenetics -The MHC and Regulation of Immune System -Serum Complement -Immunopathology -Transplantation This will be helpful for quick revisions and as a checklist of what you might need to know. However, I would suggest you come to this one after seeing the others: it will make more sense. You can download a copy of the study guide from: http://www.kumc.edu/AMA-MSS/study/micro1... But loading and saving the page from your browser may be easier.

http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Bact303/Constit... The Constitutive Defenses against Microbial Pathogens. By the same author as the previous webpage, this one deals with the constitutive defences of the body, including -Differences in susceptibility to certain pathogens -Anatomical defenses -Microbial antagonism -Tissue bactericides, including complement -Inflammation (ability to undergo an inflammatory response) -Phagocytosis

I hope these are useful to some of you at least. Please let me know by starting a discussion.

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