Setting it Straight: Immuno, Immunis, Immunity…
This week, Professor Doherty discusses immunology and what the science-speak means when it comes to COVID-19
"Words, words, words. In dealing with COVID-19 (now there’s a new word for everyone!) we’re being bombarded with partly familiar, or totally unfamiliar words. And of all the science-speak you’re currently encountering is my principal research area – immunology – which definitely has more words than just about any other area of medicine. That’s not because immunologists, who work on everything from asthma to arthritis, are an especially verbose lot. It’s just that the whole subject of immunity is both vast and immensely complex..."
About Laureate Professor Peter Doherty
Nobel Laureate Professor Doherty, University of Melbourne, Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, is the patron and namesake of the Doherty Institute. He has been involved in research on infection and immunity for 50 years. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 with Swiss colleague Rolf Zinkernagel for their discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell-mediated immune defence and the biological role of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC).