The alien within – Pregnancy and the immune system

A creature grows inside its host’s belly and feeds on the hosts’ energy reserves until it finally breaks free to live on its own. What sounds like a scene from ‘Alien’ is actually an every-day scenario. I am talking about pregnancy. Pregnancy is a tricky situation for the immune system of the mother. The baby is technically a foreign body and yet needs its protection. How does our immune system tackle such challenges? Learn more in this episode. After our recent show on blood types immunology researcher Dr Bethany Pillay is back to talk about pregnancy and the immune system.