Are the special white cells “stored” somewhere in our body?
In: Biology
Whenever your lymphocytes (a type of white cell from the adaptative immune system, the one that adapts to intruders) are activated to kill a pathogen, most transform into killing machines, but a small part evolve into memory cells, which then go on to live for very long in an inactive state, waiting to be reactivated if the pathogen comes back.
This is done because reactivating a memory cell is much faster than activating a brand new lymphocyte.
To answer the secondary question, they’re stored wherever there are lymphocytes, so mostly lymph nodes and the spleen.
Yes, these B and T cells are physically floating around in various places. They hang out in the circulation, in lymph nodes, in the bone marrow (B-derived plasma cells) and many tissues. That memory will last as long as a particular lineage of cells is still alive.
To elaborate on the other answers, when a B or T-cell matures into its final form, special genes for their *receptors* mutate dramatically. These receptors are what *recieve,* or recognize, the bacteria/virus parts and active them for killing. These memory cells carry each new gene that encodes for each specific receptor against each specific baddie in your body.
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