Question: do you do bloodtesting?

Michelle Linterman answered on 14 Nov 2012:

Hi Molly,

I do test blood, but not quite in the way scientists at the hospital do. I’m interested in the cells that are in the blood, the white blood cells. White blood cells come in lots of flavors, and I’m interested in a particular type of cell, called a helper T cell. These T cells help B cells (another white blood cell) to make antibodies that protect you from disease.

But, these helper T cells can also cause disease if they are not controlled properly. So a big part of my work is looking at how helper T cells are controlled and what we can do about them when they do cause disease.

I hope this answers your question. If there is anything that it not clear, please just tell in the comments and I’ll try to explain better!

Michelle