Like with viruses and food poisoning.
In: Biology
The basic mechanism, how your cells “learn” to distinguish ”friend” vs “foe” can be simplified like this:
Your white blood cells have a “random protein generator”. By “shuffling” DNA they can create proteins that can bind to basically anything. (more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V(D)J_recombination) So your bone marrows churns a lot of cells, that can bind to different stuff. If an immature white blood cell is found binding to cells in your body, it performs seppuku (apoptosis). If it can live in your bloodstream without binding to anything it matures. Now if this cell binds to something, this is recognized as enemy and the cell itself will proliferate, so that in the future the immune reaction is stronger.
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