4.1.1 (12.7) Immunity (OCR A-Level Biology)
NATURAL IMMUNITY:
Memory cells remember pathogen after being exposed once
New-born babies have colostrum, which is the first milk a mother produces, which is high in antibodies from the mother
ARTIFICIAL IMMUNITY:
Can now due to advancements in medicine be provided with immunity without having to be exposure normally to pathogen, making it safer
EPIDEMIC: When a communicable disease spreads rapidly at a local/national level
PANDEMIC: When a communicable disease spreads rapidly at a global level
Best way to combat an epidemic/pandemic is to mass vaccinate population to minimise spread
Comparing Artificial + Passive immunity:
Active | Passive | |
|---|---|---|
Production of antibodies | Produced by the body | Not produced by the body |
Presece of memory cells | Yes | No |
Induced by: | ||
Natural | Exposure to pathogen | Antibodies recieve from another organism Eg: Breast milk |
Artificial | Vaccination | Antibodies manufactured then injected/transfused Eg: Blood transfusion for monoclonal antibodies |
PHARMACOGENETICS: Combination of drugs that are suited to an indiduals needs due to advancments in our understanding of human genome
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY: When genetic engineering is used to develop specific bacterial populations to produce necessary drugs that are otherwise to rare/expensive/usually unavailable
ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE: Bacteria mutate and are no longer affected by antibiotics. These bacteria go on to survive and reproduce while the affected bacteria die
Infections can be reduced by minimising the use of antibitocs and good hospital hygiene