Living Dangerously: How the Immune System Maintains Peace with Trillions of Commensal Bacteria while Preventing Pathogenic Invasions

A micrograph of pathogenic bacteria (shown as yellow and green dots) attached to the lining of the intestine (shown as oval-shaped cells stained blue).

A pathogenic strain of E.coli bacteria (yellow and green dots) attached to the lining of the intestine (shown in blue) early in an infection. Bacterial gut infections are most often linked to Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp., or Escherichia spp. Learn more about bacterial gut infections in the Week 4 Readings and Lecture Summary. Image by UM Health System, from flickr. CC BY-NC-SA

Instructor(s)

MIT Course Number

7.347

As Taught In

Fall 2015

Level

Undergraduate

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Course Description

Course Description

In this course, we will examine how the immune system acts to destroy pathogenic invaders while tolerating colonization by necessary commensal bacteria. As a counterpoint, we will also explore sophisticated strategies that help some bacteria evade our immune system.

This course is one of many Advanced Undergraduate Seminars offered by the Biology Department at MIT. These seminars are tailored for students with an interest in using primary research literature to discuss and learn about current biological research in a highly interactive setting. Many instructors of the Advanced Undergraduate Seminars are postdoctoral scientists with a strong interest in teaching.

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Related Content

Matthias Truttmann, and Angelina Bilate. 7.347 Living Dangerously: How the Immune System Maintains Peace with Trillions of Commensal Bacteria while Preventing Pathogenic Invasions. Fall 2015. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.


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