HEALTH IS WEALTH Colonel Shukla Your immune system is an intricate, codependent structure of white blood cells, antibodies, complex proteins, networks, and organs. Some parts of the system act as literal barriers, preventing viruses and bacteria from reaching organs like your brain, while others hunt and remove invaders from your body. Though your immune system is effective against many di s ease-causing germs and viruses, it requires time to familiarize itself with the enemy. In many scenarios, it must be able to recognize an illness-causing pathogen as a danger before it can be removed from your body. This is typically only possible once you’ve developed specific antibodies after having been sick or receiving a vaccine. Here are some important words to know when understanding how your immune system works. When an antibody recognizes the antigen of an invading pathogen, it binds itself to it tightly. Once attached it acts as a beacon, signaling other elements of the immune s