Salmon's Immune Cells

During his doctoral thesis, Erlend Haugarvoll discovered new aspects of the salmon immune system. His research looked at the immune cells in the gills of salmon and at immune responses to vaccination. A special type of tissue, rich in immune cells, was found in the gills, and new properties of immune cells that produce brown pigment were discovered.

Haugarvoll and his colleagues discovered in salmon gill a tissue extremely rich in immune cells. Salmon gills have extremely thin mucous membranes, and they absorb oxygen from the water while keeping out potentially damaging microbes. The fish are therefore dependent on good disease resistance in this organ. The discoveries made by Haugarvoll may prove extremely useful when new vaccines, free from damaging side effects, are developed. ...