White Blood Cells and Immunity

Your Immune System Deals with Pathogens

• Pathogens are miroorganisms that cause disease e.g. certain types of bacteria and viruses
• Once pathogens have entered your body they'll reproduce rapidly unless they're destroyed. Thats the job of your immune system, and white blood cells are the most important part of it
• There are two different types of white blood cell- phagocytes and lymphocites

Phagocytes

• Phagocytes detect things that are 'foreign' to the body e.g. pathogens. They then engulf the pathogens and digest the,
• Phagocytes are non-specific- they attack anything that's not meant to be there

Lymphocytes Produce Antibodies

• Every pathogen has unique molecules (called antigens) on its surface
• When certain white blood cells, called lymphocytes, come acorss a foreign antigen, they will start to produce proteins called antibodies- these lock on to the invading pathogens and mark them out for destruction by other white blood cells. The antibodies produced are…