Tuesday, September 03, 2019
Already did this room, go on to the next.
Via Eurekalert, a new piece of research showing the fiendish cleverness of bacteria.
The ultimate goal of any invading microbe is to reside peacefully within our bodies without evoking a strong inflammatory reaction that may result in the elimination of the microbe or cause us harm. The researchers have found that pneumococcus and other bacteria accomplish this by targeting a key component of the immune system - the inflammasomes. Inflammasomes are protein complexes, which upon recognizing foreign molecules, for example those found in microbes or damaged cells, initiate reactions to kill microbes and to clear diseased cells. The researchers found that bacteria such as pneumococci release large quantities of hydrogen peroxide, and that this causes inactivation of inflammasomes thereby weakening the immune system.In other words: Our immune housekeepers use bleach to clean out bacteria. The bacteria fool the maids into thinking they've already cleaned this room, so the maids check off this room on the checklist and go on to the next room. The basic fact that we use H2O2 is already interesting and not well known. The bacterial tactic is vastly more interesting!
Labels: defensible spaces
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