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ALMA MOON NOVOTNY: The
world is out to get you.
You are constantly surrounded by viruses
and fungi and bacteria and protistins
and even worms that would just love to
set up shop in your warm, yummy body.
And in fact, it's not until you look
at the medical histories of people
who have immune deficiency diseases that
you realize what a series of horrible
fates you constantly and
unconsciously defend yourself against.
And that's what this
course is all about.
Measles?
I've had measles.
Not getting that one again.
Immunology can be a tough course.
It has an annoyingly
specialized terminology,
a vast array of different components,
and every single component
affects the performance of every other.
And so the whole system is so complex,
we're dividing it into two parts.
In this first course we're going
to look at innate immunity, B-cells
and antibodies.
Happily, I run my courses by the
philosophy of the great ballerina Dame
Margot Fontaine, who observed, "The
one important thing I've learnt in this
world is the difference between taking
one's work seriously and one's self
seriously.
The first is imperative
and the second disastrous."
So while this is a serious
course, I am not a serious person.
Cholera in the water supply?
Oh no.
There is almost nothing I wouldn't
do to make this course more
engaging and comprehensible,
including building models, using
military metaphor, engaging in role
play games, and designing animations.
Now it would help if you remember
some high school chemistry
and you remember enough
of introductory biology
to know something about
protein or cell structure.
But I have review materials
available in case that's not you.
So I hope you will join me.
Whether you're taking an immunology
course or teaching an immunology course
or have a family member with medical
issues you want to understand,
or if you just want a really
solid background in immunology,
I hope that this course will provide
you the resources that you need.
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