Scientists from US and Japan receive Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body, Report informs, citing the Nobel Prize official website.

The laureates identified the immune system"s security guards, regulatory T cells, which prevent immune cells from attacking our own body.

"Their discoveries have been decisive for our understanding of how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases," says Olle Kämpe, chair of the Nobel Committee.