Question

Acquired or adaptive immunity is the immunity that body acquires or gains over time. Which of the following mentioned statement is a feature of acquired immunity?

• A. It remembers each and every immunological encounter of the body
• B. Acquired immunity is pathogen-specific.
• C. Can discriminate self and non-self cells
• D. All of the above

Answer 1

The correct option is D All of the above

The immunity an individual acquires during their lifetime is called acquired immunity.

It is pathogen-specific (antigen specific) and develops when the body encounters the pathogen or is immunised. For example, if a person has developed immunity against the Rubella (German measles) virus, it does not mean that the person is also protected against the polio virus.

The immune system remembers each and every immunological encounter of the body. So if the body has encountered Rubella virus, then the person will be able to subdue the second round of infection successfully as there will be memory cells in the body generated during the first response.

The adaptive immune system has an amazing ability to distinguish between the body's own cells (referred to as "self") and foreign cells ("nonself"). Each cell carries protein markers called major histocomptability complex (MHC) if the protein matches with the body cells, they are regarded as self and if they do not match they are identified as nonself.