1 vote  Your Immune System 'Remembers' Microbes It's Never
Fought Before, New Study Says  Immune cells build up strength
against common bugs we encounter everywhere, and this helps us
resist more dangerous ones. Kids eating dirt: Maybe a good
thing. By Rebecca Boyle Posted 02.07.2013 at 4:01 pm  Immune
cells are like the Hatfields and McCoys of our bodies--once
wronged, they never, ever forget. This is how we gain immunity,
and it’s why vaccines work: Immune cells develop a memory of an
invading pathogen, and they build an alert system to find and
fight it should it ever return. But a new study by Stanford
researchers adds a new wrinkle to this long-held immune theory.
It turns out immune cells can develop this memory-like state
even for pathogens they’ve never met. This may come from
exposure to harmless microbes -- or the memories may actually be
borrowed from other, more experienced cells.  The findings could
help explain why babies and small children are so susceptible to
infectious diseases. They haven't