D5: The immune system — C level

The innate immune system that you learned about in level D is non-specific. This means it attacks every kind of invading germ.

The adaptive immune system learns specific germs and targets them. Here’s how it works.

Copy down this information about the kinds of cells you learned about in the video.

Dentritic cells collect pieces of a germ to give to helper T cells.

Helper T cells tell B cells that a specific germ is in the body.

B cells make targeted weapons called antibodies. They also remember the specific germ for future infections.

Antibodies stick on to germs that they match. They do 2 things:

• Stop germs from working properly
• Flag them for destruction by phagocytes

Explain why we have an adaptive immune system, and not just an innate immune system. In other words, what improvements does the adaptive immune system have over the innate immune system?