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Nobel prize awarded for discovery of immune system’s ‘security guards’

Three scientists have been awarded the 2025 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for discovering how the body stops its own immune system from turning against itself. Shimon Sakaguchi from Osaka University in Japan, Mary E. Brunkow from the Institute for System Biology and Fred Ramsdell from Sonoma Biotherapeutics, both in the USA, identified specialised “security guard” cells that keep our immune system in check. These discoveries have been important for understanding how to treat and prevent autoimmune conditions. The trio will share a prize sum of 11 million Swedish Kronor (£870,000). An effective immune system is critical. It sculpts tissues as they grow and clears away old cells and debris.…

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 How does your immune system stay balanced? A Nobel Prize-winning answer

Every day, your immune system performs a delicate balancing act, defending you from thousands of pathogens that cause disease while sparing your body’s own healthy cells. This careful equilibrium is so seamless that most people don’t think about it until something goes wrong. Autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis are stark reminders of what happens when the immune system mistakes your own cells as threats it needs to attack. But how does your immune system distinguish between “self” and “nonself”? The 2025 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine honors three scientists – Shimon Sakaguchi, Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell – whose groundbreaking discoveries revealed how your immune system maintains this delicate balance. Their work on two key components of immune tolerance – regulatory T cells and the FOXP3 gene – transformed how researchers like me understand the immune system, opening new doors for treating autoimmune diseases and cancer.

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The idea of being able to do certain activities or eat something specific to boost your immune system such that you can become an illness-fighting ninja sounds incredibly enticing. But unfortunately, it’s not exactly how the immune system works.

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The immune system is a critical function in the body that manages our health. It is a complex system with hundreds of different cell types. Until now, no metric had existed to quantify an individual's immune status. This ground-breaking new data, while requiring further development, describes a parameter (called IMM-AGE) by which we may understand a person's situation of their immune system, providing increased information for accurate prediction and management of risks for disease and death.

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Articles of Interest

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Resources

11 Surprising Facts About the Immune System

The human immune system is our protector — its job is to defend the body against diseases and other damaging foreign bodies. The system works by first identifying alien bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites lurking in the body, and then sends in its troops — white blood cells — to destroy the invaders and the tissues they infect. Here are 11 surprising facts about the immune system.

Five life lessons from your immune system

As an immunologist, it strikes me that many of our recurring analogies for a healthy, functioning immune system promote excellent behaviour traits. In this regard, we should all aim to be a little more like the cells of our immune system and emulate these characteristics in our lives and workplaces. Here are five life lessons from your immune system.