Michel nussenzweig biography

Nussenzweig’s laboratory studies the molecular aspects of the immune system’s innate and adaptive responses using a combination of biochemistry, molecular biology, and genetics. For work on adaptive immunity, he focuses on B lymphocytes and antibodies to HIV-1, while his studies of innate immunity focus on dendritic cells.

His work is leading to new antibody-based therapies for infections by HIV and the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, among other viruses.

The immune system protects vertebrates from a multitude of pathogens. Two types of immune responses have evolved to accomplish this task: one innate and the other adaptive. Adaptive immune responses are primarily carried out by cells called lymphocytes, which produce a diverse repertoire of immune receptors that recognize almost any antigen.

Most of these receptors have relatively low affinity for their antigens and must be refined by somatic hypermuta