Antibody Generation Substance and Handling a Virus - Essay Example

A vaccine may contain dead organisms of a disease such as the flu, cholera, or Hepatitis A. These dead organisms can be handled by the body with ease and it can store the required antibodies for handling live instances of such cells. Vaccines can also contain live microorganisms for diseases such as yellow fever and mumps or toxoids which are inactive or inactive toxic compounds released from microorganisms that create diseases such as tetanus and others (Wikipedia, 2007).

The working of a vaccine depends on T cells, B cells, and memory cells (The Biology Project, 2000). T cells are a part of white blood cells with a receptor on the cell surface known as the T cell receptor where the T represents the Thymus. Memory T cells are antigen-specific and remain in the body for a long time after an infection has been overcome by the immune system so that they can be recreated if the infection ever resurfaces (Wikipedia, 2007).

B cells are also a part of the immune system but are produced in the bone marrow of the subject thus the letter B is used to denote them. Millions of variations of these cells are produced by humans and they circulate the body to produce antibodies once they are activated. A B cell has to come across its respective antigen and on the reception of a chemical signal from a T cell it can change itself to create an immune response. Knowing that HIV enters the body to inject macrophages and CD4+ T cells through glycoproteins on the surface to the receptors on other cells shows us that the Virus is attacking the very cells which could envelop and destroy it (ADARC, 1999).

Therefore, we would have to seek out ways in which certain T cells or B cells could be created which recognize what the virus is instead of simply attaching themselves to the virus to be destroyed. Since the creation of these T cells requires research on the virus itself, we would require live as well as dead samples of the virus that could be used on various mammals to see how their bodies respond to the virus and to see if any particular cells are generated by the subject which could lead to a cure for the virus in the shape of a vaccine. The surface point which would be a good target for the researchers could be the glycoprotein gp120 which normally connects to healthy cells to affect and infect them. Read More