Mtise Mwanza

Immunotherapy: Altering the Immune Response to Combat Food Allergic Reactions

Ingestion of certain foods results in an adverse immune response to a protein contained therein. This allergic response occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly identifies a protein as harmful when it actually isn't. A small amount of allergy-causing food can cause severe symptoms or even life-threatening reactions known as anaphylaxis, which could lead to death. It has therefore become increasingly important to develop vaccines that impede an allergic response. Using mice models, our lab worked towards developing a tolerance inducing vaccine that would curb a food allergic response. We utilized various biological and laboratory techniques such as ELISAs, which will be explained during the presentation, to achieve our developmental goal.