I didn’t offer an ‘all of the above’ option, my mistake!

Funny enough, even in my mostly cardiologist/immunologist twitter bubble, we can’t shake the ‘immune system = colds’ association.

Yet there’s so much more to it! https://twitter.com/notimmuneatall/status/1289116898295250946

Yet there’s so much more to it!

Host defense aka fever et al is only part of a whole that’s building, maintaining and protecting tissues, organs and full body systems.

Lots of support for this coming from the @humancellatlas showing the diversity of immune cells in tissues.

Let’s start out at the beginning; Reproduction.

Yes, let’s define that as the beginning. This is not Ethics 101.

Let’s also take an anthropocentric approach looking at mammals for now.

The immune system is a key player in:
(1)the menstrual cycle and ovulation
(2)survival of sperm in the female reproductive tract
(3)implantation and survival of the foetus

It can also cause trouble with male fertility...

I bet you heard before that the female immune system is suppressed during ovulation so sperm is not being attacked as non-self and survives its travel to the egg?
But ovulation itself is also very much an inflammatory process.

Immunological tolerance against the foetus (who’s half daddy) is critical as it would otherwise be rejected by the mother’s immune system. The foetal-maternal interface is an immunologically fascinating site and often it's there where things go wrong during pregnancy.

Anybody @AcademicChatter @OpenAcademics @mothersinsci #BlackinSTEM #WomenInSTEM @ImperialImmuno working on this and intersted in introducing themselves and their studies?
@AntoniaCuff? @VikiLovesFACS?