Immune System Passport to the Body

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have figured out how to create a "passport" for the human immune system.  They identified and have created a series of proteins called CD47 that act as a passport when the body's immune system attacks.

Macrophages, the body's big immune cell "eaters," literally eat foreign objects and then dissolve them.  If a cell or a nanno-particle contains the CD47 protein particle, the macrophage recognizes it as friendly and doesn't eat it.

This is really amazing medical science at it's best. This is the kind of thing that gives doctors a "warm fuzzy" thinking about the potential uses.

You can read more about this remarkable discovery here.