By Taylor Tibbs
Antibody
What does it mean?
Antibodies are proteins produced by immune cells to target foreign elements or pathogens like viruses, bacteria, and fungi, to ultimately eliminate them from the body.The body produces many unique antibodies specific to things that can make you sick. Antibodies can neutralize toxins directly or act like flags to tell the immune system to target and destroy the thing they are attached to.
How do I use it in a sentence?
“The patient was diagnosed with COVID-19 two weeks ago and now has antibodies specific to the virus SARS-CoV-2.”
Etymology
The term “antibody” was first used by German scientist (Paul Ehrlich) in 1891 as “antikörper,” which is translated to “antibody” in English. “Anti-” is a Greek prefix meaning “against,” and “körper” is the German word for “body.”
Related terms
Fields of study in which this word is commonly used
Immunology
Microbiology
Diagnostic and clinical laboratories