antigen
noun
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An antibody is a protein produced by your immune system to fight outside invaders. Since the enemy substance actually triggers the production of antibodies, such substances are called antigens—anti- being short for antibody, and -gen meaning "producer". (In a similar way, an allergen produces an allergy, and a pathogen produces a pathology or disease.) Antigens are often rodlike structures that stick out from the surface of an invading organism—usually a bacterium or a virus—and allow it to attach itself to cells in the invaded body. But unfortunately for them, in doing so they let the immune system know they're present, and the body is flooded with an army of Pac-Man-like antibodies.
Examples of antigen in a Sentence
Ellie Austin, Fortune, 20 Nov. 2024
Hugh Mason, an associate professor at Arizona State University who has been studying the use of plants for the production of vaccine antigens for more than 30 years, said there are significant technical hurdles to delivering a precise amount of a vaccine in a piece of fruit or a vegetable.
—Nate Trela, USA TODAY, 26 Sep. 2024
AstraZeneca later redesigned the antigens in the vaccine, earning back the CDC's recommendation starting in 2018.
—Alexander Tin, CBS News, 20 Sep. 2024
Advancing rapid antigen tests Like all technologies, rapid antigen tests have limitations.
—Julie Sullivan, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 2024
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“Antigen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antigen. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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antigen
noun
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antigen
noun
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