Pirbright researchers discovered more about how chickens fight Marek’s disease
Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have identified critical differences in the immune response of chickens resistant to Marek’s disease and those not.
This research could pave the way for developing more effective vaccines against this severe disease.
In a recent paper published in Frontiers in Immunology, researchers at the Institute discovered that immune cells, known as T cells, had distinct functions depending on the susceptibility of the chickens to disease.
T cells are essential cells in the adaptive immune response; this response helps to protect against invading pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. The adaptive immune system has memory cells which can protect when the body detects the pathogen again.
