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The prestigious award in medical science has been awarded for transformative findings that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks harmful pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

Three esteemed researchers—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

The work uncovered specialized "security guards" within the defense system that eliminate rogue immune cells capable of attacking the body.

The discoveries are now paving the way for new therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

The winners will share a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"The work has been essential for comprehending how the immune system operates and why we don't all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's studies address a fundamental question: How does the immune system defend us from countless infections while leaving our own tissues intact?

The immune system uses white blood cells that scan for signs of disease, including viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.

These defenders utilize sensors—known as receptors—that are produced by chance in a vast number of combinations.

This provides the defense network the capacity to fight a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process unavoidably produces immune cells that may target the body.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists previously understood that some of these harmful white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—the site where immune cells develop.

This year's award honors the identification of T-reg cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the body to disarm other defenders that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this process fails in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee stated, "The findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the body from fighting the tumor, so studies are aimed at lowering their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A comparable approach could also be effective in minimizing the risks of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, conducted tests on mice that had their thymus removed, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher showed that injecting defense cells from other animals could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and people that led to the discovery of a gene critical for how T-regs operate.

"The groundbreaking work has uncovered how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," said a leading physiology expert.

"The work is a striking example of how basic physiological study can have far-reaching consequences for human health."