The Scientist (blog), June 17, 2010.
In order to progress, should the field of immunology look to other organ systems such as the brain and gut, or should it focus its efforts on all that remains unknown about the immune system itself?
“The major advancements in any field come when branches of science collide,” said Kevin Tracey, an immunologist at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, one of the researchers asked to write their opinion about the future of immunology for the tenth-anniversary issue of Nature Immunology.
Tracey’s interests lie in the intersection of neurophysiology and immunology, which took the spotlight after the discovery that action potentials of the vagus nerve regulate the release of cytokines from the spleen and other organs. “That’s just the beginning. I think there is going to be a lot of nerves and a lot of circuits that control the immune system,” Tracey told The Scientist. Read More >