Jul 23, 2020
Innate immunity is the initial immune response to infectious agents, carried out mainly by granulocytes and macrophages. These include a variety of responses that are genetically hard-wired to mount a quick response to families of molecules common to classes of pathogens. Adaptive (or acquired) immunity creates immunological memory after an initial response to a specific pathogen, leading to an enhanced response to subsequent encounters with that same pathogen. This process of acquired immunity is the basis of vaccination.
