Sharks: a new ally in the fight against human disease

In the 50 years since Jaws first hit cinema screens scientists have shown that sharks are far from the menacing, people-munching monsters that movies so often portray. Sharks are highly resilient, having survived 5 global extinction events since their emergence over 450 million years ago. In this time, they have evolved many features to perfectly adapt themselves to their environment and protect themselves from predation and disease.

IMET’s team studies the immune system of these amazing animals to understand how they protect themselves from infection. Despite early studies suggesting immune protection in sharks was ‘primitive’, our work has instead shown that the shark immune system is remarkably sophisticated. Indeed sharks, like humans, can mount robust protective responses against pathogens. In this talk we’ll share some of our most exciting discoveries and how we are trying to use the information we’ve gathered to help us fight human disease.  

IMET’s Helen Dooley was recently featured on NPRs Radiolab: The Shark Inside You.