Immunologists discover immune system precursor cells that fight infection

(Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz) The innate immune system recognizes infectious agents such as viruses and bacteria. A group of lymphocytes known as 'innate lymphoid cells' or ILCs plays a central role in the defense of the human body against infective agents. Professor Andreas Diefenbach of the Research Center Immunology at the Mainz University Medical Center, working in collaboration with scientists at the University of Freiburg, has discovered previously unidentified ILCs that are able...