Study Overseas

Why should a graduate in biological sciences at the turn of the millennium consider specialising in Immunology for their future study and career? Perhaps because Immunology is a relatively young science, and there is still so much to discover!

Edward Jenner carried out his first vaccination against smallpox just over 200 years ago. However, Jenner knew nothing of pathogens and antibodies, and it is really only in the last 50 years that the developing techniques of molecular and cell biology have enabled us to look closely at the many elements which make up a functioning immune system.

Just the Jab

Today, immunologists work in many different disease areas, including allergy, autoimmunity (for example, rheumatoid arthritis and type I diabetes), immunodeficiency, transplantation and cancer. Interestingly, though, no matter what their areas of expertise, most will still tell you that vaccine development and understanding how vaccines work pose the greatest challenges. Vaccinology is one of the most exciting areas of science to work in, with real potential to ease human and animal suffering. This is partly because our great confidence of just a few years ago that humans had the bugs beaten has proved unfounded, with the rise of drug-resistant strains of many infectious diseases, such as TB and malaria. There is now a renewed emphasis on helping the body's own defences to fight infectious diseases through vaccination. The advantage for developing countries is that a preventative vaccination programme should be cheaper to carry out than the long term drug treatment often required to treat a persistent infection.

Recent advances in our understanding of the immune system means that we are now poised to develop new kinds of vaccine. The vaccines currently used primarily generate an antibody response, which is able to attack free-moving pathogens, but is unable to fight bacteria and viruses, such as HIV, which lurk inside body cells. Now vaccines which stimulate a T-cell response are becoming a possibility - the next ten years should see a whole new generation of vaccines. Already, vaccines which stimulate the immune system to attack tumour cells are undergoing clinical trials. So perhaps this is another reasons to go into Immunology - the opportunity to make a real difference to public health in both developing and developed countries.

Be Tolerant

Throughout the world, populations are ageing, bringing an increase in organ failure and autoimmune diseases (where the immune system mistakenly attacks the patient's own tissues as foreign). Whilst organ failure can now be treated very effectively by transplantation, action must be taken to prevent the recipient's immune system from rejecting the new organ. Drugs such as steroids can be used to damp down the effects of the immune system, allowing successful transplants and treatment of autoimmune diseases. However, none of the currently available drugs can be targeted to the particular cell or antibody causing the problem; the result is a number of unpleasant side-effects and a patient who is susceptible to infection. The goal of immunologists for many years has been the induction of tolerance - that is, the ability to stop the immune system from reacting to a particular antigen, be it a foreign graft or the patient's own tissue. Now at last we are beginning to learn how to do this, and in the next ten years we can expect to see new therapies for autoimmunity, and better ways of preventing transplant rejection as this knowledge is refined and applied.

Advanced Immunology

This is just a small taste of the exciting areas of Immunology research which are now opening up. This is a good time to be an immunologist in the UK. The biomedical sciences did well out of increases in science funding announced in the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review last year. The Immunology community is extremely active, and the British Society for Immunology's Annual Congress of Immunology is a major international event, attracting upwards of 1,700 immunologists to Yorkshire each December.

Immunology engages with many of the life sciences, and consequently may form a module of study for many first degree programmes. However, even if no Immunology has been studied at undergraduate level, there is plenty of opportunity for those with a background in biochemistry, cell biology or genetics, for example. Many UK universities have MSc programmes focusing on different aspects of Immunology, so whether your interest is allergy, neuroscience or infectious diseases, there will be a course to suit your needs. For those with the right experience, it is also possible to study for a PhD straightaway. The British Society for Immunology can point you in the direction of the varied MSc courses available to you, and notices of PhD studentships are posted on our website.

Author

Dr. Kirstie Urquhart
Public Relations Co-ordinator
British Society for Immunology