Protein: Immunoglobulin Gamma (IgG)
PDB ID: 1IGT
Artist: Anna Vigeland
The caduceus, depicting two serpents intertwined around a winged staff, has become familiar as a symbol of medicine and the doctors who practice it. In our bodies, the agents that bring about recovery from illness by fighting infectious diseases are antibodies, immunoglobulin proteins, which bind to foreign antigens and allow them to be eliminated by other immune system actors. Immuloglobulin gamma is a type of antibody which is secreted by active B-cells, and is the type received by fetuses and newborn infants from their mothers. If there were a symbol representative of health and medical aid on the microscopic level, the characteristic twisted Y-shape of the immunoglobulin molecule would be it.