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Home » transgenerational immunity

transgenerational immunity

How plants and insects inherit immunity from their parents

Brian Owens · November 27, 2019 ·

Passing on short-term immunity to offspring is common in vertebrates, but plants and invertebrates take transgenerational immunity much further. An organism’s immune response to attack is usually considered to be a personal battle. A pathogen or parasite attacks, the organism mounts a defence, and one of them wins. But sometimes, the target’s relatives get involved. […]

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