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This year's prestigious award in medical science has been granted for transformative discoveries that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks dangerous pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of renowned scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.

The research identified unique "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate rogue defense cells capable of attacking the body.

These findings are now paving the way for new treatments for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

The winners will share a monetary award worth 11m SEK.

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been decisive for comprehending how the immune system operates and the reason we do not all develop serious self-attack conditions," stated the head of the award panel.

This trio's studies explain a core mystery: How does the immune system protect us from countless invaders while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

Our body's protection system employs immune cells that search for indicators of infection, even viruses and germs it has not met before.

Such cells employ sensors—known as recognition units—that are generated randomly in a vast number of combinations.

This gives the defense network the ability to fight a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process unavoidably creates white blood cells that may target the host.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Scientists previously understood that a portion of these harmful white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—where white blood cells develop.

The latest award recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the system to neutralize other defenders that attack the body's own tissues.

It is known that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee stated, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of investigation and spurred the creation of innovative treatments, for example for cancer and immune disorders."

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells block the body from fighting the growth, so research are focused on lowering their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are testing increasing T-reg cells so the body is no longer under attack. A comparable method could also be useful in minimizing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Prof Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on mice that had their thymus extracted, leading to self-attack conditions.

He demonstrated that introducing immune cells from healthy mice could stop the illness—implying there was a system for preventing immune cells from harming the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a gene critical for how T-regs operate.

"The pioneering research has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," said a leading biological science specialist.

"This research is a striking example of how fundamental physiological research can have far-reaching consequences for human health."