Molecular Biology: Antibodies and the Immune Response

Over this past year, the pandemic has transformed into a part of our daily lives. Whether we are reading the news about the latest vaccine updates or practicing safety guidelines in public, everything comes back to the pandemic. One of the common words people have encountered since is antibodies. Why is it so commonly seen? First, a deeper dive into what they are and how they fit into our immune response.

Pathogens, molecules that can damage our bodies, must be protected against. Be it coronavirus or a knee scrape, our bodies have an immune system ready to take on the challenge. Many pathogens have distinct markers called antigens. Antigens are characteristic of foreign substances and are specific to the substance that carries them. Whenever an antigen is encountered, the body by default seeks to eliminate it. This is what triggers the immune response.

Antigens are specific to their molecule. Antibodies are as well. Cells involved in the immune system will produce them to combat a specific antigen. For example, if someone came down with the coronavirus, their immune response would include anti-coronavirus antibody production. Immune system cells can identify the shape of the antigens present on the pathogen and produce a matching antibody accordingly.

Antibodies play a major role in the immune response. Beyond initial defenses like skin and mucus, they are essentially the key figure in the latter stages of the immune response process.

In terms of coronavirus, our bodies will automatically generate antibodies to combat it. However, rather than completely rely on what the human body can do, we should still all follow health guidelines to avoid contracting the virus in the first place.