Work

The body’s powerful immune system must be regulated, or it may attack our own organs. In 1995, Shimon Sakaguchi discovered a class of immune cells, regulatory T cells, which protect the body from autoimmune diseases. In 2001, Fred Ramsdell and Mary Brunkow found that mutations in a gene cause autoimmune diseases. Two years later Sakaguchi showed that the gene controls the development of the cells he had identified. The discoveries can help the development of medical treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases and lead to more successful transplantations.