Drosophila innate immunity: another piece to the puzzle

EPFL scientists have discovered a new receptor in the fruit fly immune system that detects bacterial infections. The finding opens up clues for our own immune responses. Our immune system has two phases: innate and adaptive. The first phase, innate, refers to the immediate defense mechanisms such as skin, blood chemicals and certain types of immune cells that constantly fight off foreign organisms to keep them from infecting us. There has been much interest in understanding innate immunity, and much of that research is carried out using Drosophila flies, a type of fruit fly widely used in biological and genetic research. EPFL scientists have now identified a new receptor that Drosophila flies use to fight off infections, adding a missing piece to the puzzle. The work is published in Immunity .