Born 2 Apr 1931.

French-Australian physician who, in 1962, demonstrated the importance of the #thymus gland in organizing the #immunity of animals. Thymus Gland is prominent in young animals, but withers away in adults.

If the thymus gland is removed at a sufficiently early stage, a young animal is unable to develop #antibody resistance to foreign moelcules. Thus, the thymus, located high in the chest, is essential for the immune response. This is because the thymus makes T #lymphocytes or T cells (T = thymus) from the #stemcells which migrate into the organ from #bonemarrow.

The thymus could be regarded as the university of the immune system - it is here that the T cells learn to recognise foreign #antigens and to ignore the myriad "self" antigens present in the body's own tissues.