How is an antigen involved in the immune response?

Click here for a short animation of how antigens stimulate antibody production. There are several other immune system animations on the right side of the page! Enjoy:)

Did you watch any of the other animations? If so, which ones were the most helpful or relevant?

Vaccines

Vaccines are used to expose the immune system to harmful antigens and teach the body how to fight back. Vaccines contain a form of dead or weakened pathogens. This causes our body to release antibodies in response to this type of pathogen.

After fighting off the vaccine, the body retains a lasting memory of how to fight off that particular type of attack. Watch this animation to learn more.

What diseases have you been vaccinated against?

Allergies

Allergies are part of your body's non-specific immune system. Watch this animation to learn more.

What types of allergies do you suffer from?

Antibody Animation

This 3D medical animation shows how antibodies stop harmful pathogens from attaching themselves to healthy cells in the blood stream. The animation begins by showing normal red and white blood cells flowing through the blood stream. A single pathogen appears onscreen slowly moving toward its destination on the surface of a cell. The tubular extensions on the pathogen are surface proteins which attach to the surface of a white blood cell. As the animation continues, more pathogens continue to attach to the white blood cell, rendering it ineffective.

During the immune system response, Y-shaped antibodies begin attacking the pathogen. The antibodies completely block the pathogen from attaching to the white blood cell, "tagging" the pathogen so that one of the immune system's leaner and meaner cells, a macrophage, appears onscreen to engulf and digest the pathogen.

Glands of the Endocrine System

Click here to learn more about the glands of the endocrine system.

At the GAP - the synapse, that is!

Click here for a detailed animation of how the nervous system processes information. Be patient, the animation moves rather slowly, but there is a great deal of useful information about how messages are carried throughout the body, specifically through nerve cells.

How does diffusion play a part in the transmission of nerve impulses?