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Placenta / parasite

Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:37 am
by bromley
That old parasite Lyon has managed to drive everyone from this site.

This story should keep him happy for a bit.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7081298.stm

Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2007 12:03 pm
by Lyon
.

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 5:58 am
by TwistedHelix
Thanks for that article, Ian. The placenta has long been considered important with regard to autoimmune diseases because of its " immune privileged" status and the fact that it is not rejected by the mother's body, and I remember writing before, (though I can't find it now), about an old Russian technique of inserting a small fragment of placenta under a flap of skin below the navel as a treatment for many autoimmune diseases. This discovery of a single protein found in placental tissue which is also used by a parasite to hide itself from the immune system sounds really exciting to me.

Bob, that's a great picture! Is it from your passport?