Biology › Section Q · Immunity and reproduction › Topic Q.2
Adaptive immune response
Innate defences treat every invader alike; the adaptive immune system learns. It builds cells aimed at one exact molecule, destroys the pathogen that carries it, and keeps a memory that makes the next encounter short. Vaccines work by putting that memory to use.
In this topic
- Defence that learns
- Diversity first, selection later
- Presenting antigen to T cells
- Helper T cells
- B cells and the humoral response
- Cytotoxic T cells
- Memory and switching off
- Vaccines and herd immunity
- Worked example: two exposures
- Worked example: a mouse without a thymus
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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