{"id":66968,"date":"2025-10-07T10:58:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T05:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=66968"},"modified":"2025-10-07T12:52:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T07:22:56","slug":"nobel-prize-2025-in-medicine-how-scientists-unlocked-the-bodys-immune-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/nobel-prize-2025-in-medicine-how-scientists-unlocked-the-bodys-immune-secrets\/","title":{"rendered":"Nobel Prize 2025 in Medicine: How Scientists Unlocked the Body\u2019s Immune Secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Nobel Prize in Medicine Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the first of this year\u2019s awards, has been jointly given to <\/span><b><i>Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell of the USA<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><b><i>Shimon Sakaguchi of Japan<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, for their groundbreaking discoveries on the human immune system.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their work represents two interconnected phases \u2014 Sakaguchi\u2019s earlier research laid the foundation, while Brunkow and Ramsdell\u2019s later findings complemented and completed it, together advancing understanding of immune regulation and tolerance.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Medicine Prize traditionally opens the Nobel season, followed by those for Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Economics.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Discovery: Key Cells That Prevent the Body from Attacking Itself<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine laureates \u2014 Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi \u2014 were honoured for discovering the <\/span><b>mechanism of peripheral immune tolerance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their research revealed regulatory <\/span><b>T cells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the body\u2019s \u201c<\/span><b>immune security guards<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d which prevent immune cells from attacking healthy tissues.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This breakthrough has been crucial to understanding autoimmune diseases and developing targeted therapies for immune-related disorders and cancers.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For years, scientists were puzzled by how the <\/span><b>immune system fights infections<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> without harming the body\u2019s own cells.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By the 1980s, they understood <\/span><b>central tolerance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, where self-reactive <\/span><b>T cells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are eliminated. But this couldn\u2019t explain all immune regulation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <\/span><b>1995<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>Shimon Sakaguchi<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> provided groundbreaking evidence for a <\/span><b>special class of T cells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, later called <\/span><b>regulatory T cells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which act as \u201cpolice\u201d preventing other T cells from attacking healthy tissues.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Read About: <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/nobel-prize-winners-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nobel Prize Winners 2025<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Immune System and the Discovery of Regulatory T Cells<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>immune system<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> protects the body from thousands of microbes daily, distinguishing between harmful invaders and the body\u2019s own healthy cells.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When this identification fails, it leads to <\/span><b>autoimmune diseases<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><b>organ transplant rejection<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>T cells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are central to this defence: <\/span><b>helper T cells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> detect threats, while <\/span><b>killer T cells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> destroy them.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Traditionally, scientists believed the <\/span><b>thymus gland<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ensured immune tolerance by filtering out self-attacking T cells \u2014 a process called <\/span><b>central tolerance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the 2025 Nobel laureates \u2014 Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi \u2014 discovered an additional layer of control.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This control involved <\/span><b>regulatory T cells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which act as <\/span><b>immune system \u201csecurity guards\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, preventing other T cells from attacking the body\u2019s own tissues.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This breakthrough transformed the understanding of immune regulation and opened new paths for treating autoimmune and transplant-related disorders.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Shimon Sakaguchi\u2019s Discovery of Regulatory T Cells<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the mid-1990s, Shimon Sakaguchi challenged prevailing scientific views by proposing that certain specialised T cells act as \u201csecurity guards\u201d of the immune system, preventing excessive immune reactions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through experiments on mice without a thymus, into which mature T cells were later injected, he identified a unique class of cells \u2014 now known as regulatory T cells \u2014 that suppress other T cells attacking the body\u2019s own tissues.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although initially overlooked due to skepticism from earlier unconvincing studies, Sakaguchi\u2019s insight later became a cornerstone of modern immunology, redefining how the body maintains self-tolerance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Brunkow and Ramsdell Linked the FOXP3 Gene to Immune Regulation<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Working independently from Sakaguchi, Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell studied sick male mice and traced their condition to a mutation linked to a rare human autoimmune disorder called IPEX.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both the mouse disease and IPEX were caused by defects in the <\/span><b>FOXP3 gene<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Subsequent research confirmed that the FOXP3 gene is crucial for the development of regulatory T cells \u2014 the same immune \u201csecurity guards\u201d that Sakaguchi had discovered earlier.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Together, their complementary findings explained how the immune system maintains self-tolerance and laid the scientific foundation for the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>How the Nobel-Winning Discoveries Are Transforming Medicine<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The discoveries of regulatory T cells and the FOXP3 gene have revolutionised immune-regulation research, opening new therapeutic pathways for several major diseases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>In cancer<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, scientists are exploring ways to <\/span><b>block regulatory T cells that shield tumours from immune attacks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, helping the body\u2019s defences target cancer cells more effectively.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In contrast, <\/span><b>for autoimmune diseases<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, treatments aim to <\/span><b>enhance regulatory T cell<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> activity to suppress harmful immune responses that damage healthy tissues.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These insights are also improving organ transplant success, helping prevent rejection by fine-tuning the immune system\u2019s response.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overall, the discoveries have laid the groundwork for precision immunotherapy and targeted treatment innovations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-sci-tech\/nobel-prize-in-medicine-what-exactly-have-winners-done-10291086\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I<strong>E<\/strong><\/span><\/a><strong> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/why-immune-system-doesnt-attack-the-body-10291950\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/2025-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine-winners\/article70131185.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi win Nobel Prize 2025 for discovering regulatory T cells and the FOXP3 gene, transforming immune research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":66994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,3105,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-66968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-nobel-prize-in-medicine","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}