Edward Jenner (1749 - 1823)

Doctor, the pioneer of smallpox vaccination and the father of

immunology.
Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley,
Gloucestershire on 17 May 1749, the son of the
local vicar. At the age of 14, he was apprenticed
to a local surgeon and then trained in London.
In 1772, he returned to Berkeley and spent most
the rest of his career as a doctor in his native
town.
In 1796, he carried out his now famous
experiment on eight-year-old James Phipps.
Jenner inserted pus taken from a cowpox pustule and inserted it
into an incision on the boy's arm. He was testing his theory,
drawn from the folklore of the countryside, that milkmaids who
suffered the mild disease of cowpox never contracted smallpox,
one of the greatest killers of the period, particularly among
children. Jenner subsequently proved that having been inoculated
with cowpox Phipps was immune to smallpox. He submitted a
paper to the Royal Society in 1797 describing his experiment, but
was told that his ideas were too revolutionary and that he needed
more proof. Undaunted, Jenner experimented on several other
children, including his own 11-month-old son. In 1798, the
results were finally published and Jenner coined the word vaccine
from the Latin 'vacca' for cow.
Jenner was widely ridiculed. Critics, especially the clergy,
claimed it was repulsive and ungodly to inocculate someone with
material from a diseased animal. A satirical cartoon of 1802
showed people who had been vaccinated sprouting cow's heads.
But the obvious advantages of vaccination and the protection it
provided won out, and vaccination soon became widespread.
Jenner became famous and now spent much of his time
researching and advising on developments in his vaccine. Jenner
carried out research in a number of other areas of medicine and
was also keen on fossil collecting and horticulture. He died on 26
January 1823.
 Introduction:
Biology stated that mind influences, through neural system
and endocrine system, Our immune system and that our
immune system maintain our health. Hence mind and mental
state can effect our health. Of course, health is effected by
(i) Infections
(ii) Genetic disorder
(iii) Life style including food and water we take, rest and
exercise we give to our bodies, habits that we have or
lack etc.
Immunity:
Everyday we can exposed to large number of infection.
However only few of
these exposes result
in diseases. Why?
This is due to natural
or aquired resistance
of an individual after
having received
infective dose of virulant pathogen, its toxin. This ability of
the host to fight against disease causing organism, confered
by the immune system is called immunity.
Types of Immunity:
 Immunity is of two types
1. Innate immunity, 2. Acquired Immunity.

1. Innate immunity - It is natural system of defence

elements with which an individual is born and which are
always available to the living body for providing
protection against various infections. Innate immunity is
also known as Inborn Immunity, Genetic Immunity.
Two strategies are adopted in innate immunity. One is to
prevent the entry of foreign agent in the body. The second
is to quickly kill the ones which have found entry in the
body. It consist of anatomical barriers, physiological
barriers, phagocytic barriers etc.
(i) Physical or Anatomical barriers They are barriers
which do not allow the entry of pathogen and other
foreign agents into the body. Anatomical barriers are
skin, hair, mucus membranes, mucus, cilia, friendly
micro organisms.
(ii) Physiological barriers They are the barriers operate
at biochemical and functional level which prevent the
growth of invading pathogenic organisms. They are of
several types friendly micro organisms, temperature,
Ph and body secretion.
(iii) Cellular barriers Certain type of leukocytes (WBC)
of our body like polymorpho nuclear leukocytes
(PMNL- neutrophils) and monocytes and natural killer
(type of lymphocytes) in the blood as well as
 macrophages in the tissue can phagocytes and destroy
microbes.
(iv) Cytokine barriers Virus infected cells secrete
proteins called interferons which protect non-infected
cells from further viral infection.
2. Acquired Immunity- It is the immunity or occurence of
resistance to disease which develops during life time of
individual by obtaining or producing antibodies and cells
against the specific micro organisms.
The acquired immunity develops only on exprosers to
the concerned microorganisms. It required several days to
become activated. The first encounter with the pathogen
produces low intensity primary response. Subsequent
encounter with the same pathogen produces a highly
intensified anannestic or secondry immune response.
Immune system in the Body:
It is a specialised system of the body that recognized
foreign antigens, responds to them for their elimination and
keeps a memory of same. Working of immune system is
based on two component. Humoral and cell medicated.
1. Humoral Immune System or Antibody Mediated
Immune System (AMIS)
It consists of different types of antibodies that occur
in the body humors or body fluids like lymph and blood
plasma. The antibodies are formed by plasma cell which in
turn are produced by B-lymphocytes. The cells are able to
produce antibodies specific for each type of antigen by a
system of rearrangement of there genes segment to form
the gene required for the formation of particular antibody.
Humoral immune responses occur against pathogens, that
enter body fluids.
2. Cell Mediated immune System (CMIS)
It is a component of immune system which consist of
T-lymphocytes. Cell mediated immune response on cell
mediated immunity (CMI) function against pathogen
which pass into host cell. The immune system also operate
against cancer cell and transplant. It also activates B-
lymphocytes.
Lymphocytes Cell of immune system.
Immune system has two types of about trillion
lymphocytes cell called B-lymphocyte and T-lymphocyte.
Both the type of cell develop in the embryo initially from
mesenchymal cells of yolk sac and afterward in the liver
spleen.
Function of T-cell
On coming in contact with an antigen T-lymphocyte
form a clone of lymphocyte. The clone has four types of cell.
(i) Helper T-cell-They are responsible for proliferation of
other T-cell, stimulation of B-lymphocyte, attraction of
macrophages and feedback system.
(ii) Killer T-cell-They attack another pathogen, attack
cancer cell.
(iii) Supresor T-cell-They are protective T-cell which
inactivate immune system.
(iv) Memory T-cell-They are those T-cell which work
previously sensitized and retain the sensitisation for
future.
Function of B-cell
B-cell sentisied both directly by antigen as well as by
helper T-cell. An activated B-lymphocyte enlarge and
undergoes division to form plasma cell. Plasma cell have
abundant endoplasmic reticulum. They are specialized to
secrete antibodies. One type of plasma cell produces only a
particular type of antibodies.
Primary and Secondary immune
Response
(i) Primary immune response Is the response of
immune system to first encounter of the body with
 antigen. Primary response take much longer time to
develop. The response is feeble and declined rapidly.
Primary immune response, however produces both
receptor and memory cell.
(ii) Secondary immune response of immune system It
is a response of the immune system to a Subsequent
encouter with same antigen. It is heightened and quick
response which last much longer, may be life long. A
person having survive one attack of chickenpox or
measles remains immune to the diseases throughout
due to it.
Lymphoid Organ They are those organ which
function as site of formation, multiplication and maturation of
lymphocytes. Bone marrow is the main lymphoid organ
where all the types of blood cell including lymphocyte are
formed. B-lymphocyte mature in the bone marrow while T-
lymphocyte mature in thymus. Bone marrow and thymus are
primary lymphoid organs.
 After maturation both B-lymphocyte and T-lymphocyte
leave primary lymphoid organs and pass through circulatory
system to populate other lymphoid organ of the body for
proliferation and differentiation. Those organ where
lymphocyte reside after maturation are called secondary
lymphoid organs. They are lymph nodes, spleen etc.
Lymphoid tissue located in the living of different tracks of the
body is called mucosal associated lymphoid tissue
(MALT). Whenever a foreign agent enters the body, it is
trapped by secondary lymphoid organ present near the portal
of entry and mounts and immune response with the help of its
T cell and B cell.
Spleen It is a large been shaped vascular organ which
is popularly called blood bank of body and grave yard of
RBC. It filter the blood and trapped blood born micro
organism.
Lymph Nodes Lymph node are small oval solid
swelling present on lymph vessels at several palaces but are
more abundant in neck, chest, Armpits, Tonsils etc. It filter
out microorganism and other antigens. The trapped antigens
are acted upon by lymphocyte and macrophases.
Antigen (G.K. anti against, genos-
birth) Antigen or immunogen is any foreign substances,
toxin, particle are pathogen which induces the immune
system of the body to produce cells and antibodies to dispose
of the same. An antigen often has high molecular mass of
8000 daltons or more.

Antibodies They are glycoproteins, called

immunoglobulins which has specific immuno acid sequence
by which they can interact with specific antigen. Antibodies
form 20% of plasma proteins. Each Antibody has a
combination of atleast 2 light (L) and 2 heavy (H)
polypeptide chain (H2I2) The heavy chain have large number
of immuno acid while lighter chain has smaller number of
them. Usually, the polypeptides form a Y shaped
configuration in the arm of Y, both light and heavy chain
occur parallel to each other except for antigen binding sites.
Attachment and bending occur by means of disulphide bonds
(-S-S-). There are five classes of immunoglobulin IgA, IgD,
IgE, IgG and IgM.
Active and Passive immunity
(i) Acquired active immunity-It is a immunity acquired by
individual due to either vaccination are previous
contraction of disease. The period required for
developing it is long. Example-Typhoid vaccination.
(ii) Acquired passive immunity The immunity to disease
is acquired due to obtaining of antibodies from outside.
Colostrums or yellow thick milk also contain
abundant-IgA and other antibodies.
Vaccination and Immunization
Vaccination (L. Vacca-Cow) It is the process of
development of immunisation against a particular disease by
inoculation of harmless antigenic material like attenuated
pathogen or its toxoid into a healthy person.