Biology › Section Q · Immunity and reproduction › Topic Q.3
Antibodies and immune disorders
Antibodies are the adaptive immune system's most versatile tools: Y-shaped proteins that can fit almost any molecule. The same machinery that makes them so powerful explains what happens when immunity is too weak, aimed at something harmless, or turned on the body itself.
In this topic
- The shape of an antibody
- Worked example: counting antibody combinations
- Five antibody classes
- What antibodies do
- Affinity, avidity and cross-reactivity
- Active and passive immunity
- When immunity is too weak
- Allergies and delayed reactions
- Autoimmunity and mimicry
- Worked example: diagnosing the misfire
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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