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The key argument for Wednesday’s event was that in this polarized political climate, we should unite rather than reaffirm our divisions. However, in the context of Trump’s executive order, and the very real dangers Muslim people and other vulnerable groups are facing at this time, this response was deeply misguided. By insisting on #NoHate, the organizers of this protest are promoting the idea that an oppressed group is responsible for creating division in society if they dare to denounce their oppressors. By this logic, Muslim people are practicing hatred by demanding accountability from those who enact Islamophobia. Clearly, the opposite is true – it is racists who are responsible for this hatred, and Trump, his government, and supporters, who have legitimized it. We cannot be lenient in the face of Islamophobia, and the first step to combatting this injustice and oppression is to be incisive and uncompromising in identifying it.

Furthermore, in the aftermath of the Quebec City mosque attack, which was perpetrated by a right wing, white nationalist Trump supporter, it seems especially unjust to insist on respecting the feelings of Trump supporters. Muslim people in Quebec and elsewhere are facing serious dangers in the face of a wave of violent Islamophobia. There is no comparison between the alienation of Trump supporters at a politically moderate university and the difficulties Muslim people are facing right now, and it is unconscionable to suggest that both these groups are equally in need of safety and acceptance.

The events of the past few weeks should make it clear to us that the growth of Islamophobia and racism in the public sphere has put Muslim peoples’ lives at risk. Under these circumstances, neutrality is simply not an option, and reaching a conciliatory hand across the aisle to Trump supporters should be our last priority. Instead, we must do all we can to support and protect communities who are at risk, and to actively resist oppression not only abroad, but right here at home.

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The members of the Education Undergraduate Society (EdUS) would like to extend their deepest sympathy to the writer of this article and to all of those who have experienced similar events during their field experiences. As a student society, we are deeply concerned with these issues occurring during field experiences, and we are currently looking into ways to make support systems more accessible to students.

We would like to take this time to remind students that if they are facing a difficult situation, or if they would like to talk about anything pertaining to our Faculty – whether it is related to courses, field experiences, or the Faculty in general – our doors are open and we are here as outlets and support systems for you.

—Natalie Pepiot, VP Communications of EdUS

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Trans people who have been denied services can send in an email to the CGA with the location as well as their account of the experience. The CGA will then post this story and mark its location with a pin on the map. Some pins mark specifically where the incident took place, while other markers give only the general area.

“[There are] places that are not safe and people need to know about it,” Gabrielle Bouchard, Peer Support and Trans Advocacy Coordinator at the CGA, told The Daily.

Most of the incidents documented by the map occurred in Montreal, with the majority of these in Ville-Marie. Incidents have also been noted in Trois-Rivières, Quebec City, and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu each. Claims of denied services range from refusal to use a person’s name (as opposed to the one assigned at birth), refusals to allow names to be changed on work identification cards, and one refusal to perform a medical exam necessary for an operation.

“[The map] came from a need from the  [trans] community… There are places that are not safe and people need to know about it” – Gabrielle Bouchard, Centre for Gender Advocacy

One such discrimination is allegedly reported to have occurred at the Gender Identity Clinic at the Montreal General Hospital. “This clinic maintains the belief that being trans is an extreme form of homosexuality and provides reparative therapy,” the post on the map reads in French. The Montreal General Hospital’s department of psychological services was unavailable for comment.

Another pin on the map documents an instance near the intersection of Jeanne-Mance and de la Gauchetière. “Refusal of trans women-based on primarily their appearance and their genital organs,” the post reads in French.

According to Bouchard, the map “came from a need from the community.” Bouchard emphasized that people were coming to her with reports of places that were not safe, and she felt others needed to know about it.

The CGA has also played an important role in providing peer advocacy, resources for safer sex, and services to trans people. It is active within the Concordia community and in greater Montreal.

This map is a part of a larger push by the CGA for trans visibility and the acceptance of trans people in society. Though the map is quite informal – the CGA does not double-check claims, and many of the pins do not give the precise address of the incident – this community-based resource may provide important information for the trans community in ensuring their safety.

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Enter District 3 Innovation Centre, a business incubator based out of Concordia University’s downtown campus. The centre aims to help people with startup ideas turn their dreams into a reality. The centre possesses a number of high-tech devices, such as 3D printers and laser cutters, and offers seed funding to help entrepreneurs focus on prototyping, providing an opportunities for specialized support in the form of peer-to-peer coaching. It also aims to increase accessibility to science and technology by offering services regardless of age, educational background, profession, or prior experience.

District 3 has been garnering increased publicity for its work in recent months, and just received a $1 million donation from Montreal philanthropists André Desmarais and France Chrétien Desmarais in September.
Noor El Bawab, District 3 Communications Manager, explained the vision behind the centre in an email to The Daily.

“Technology and access to knowledge are being democratized and shared at hyperspeed thanks to the internet and newer innovations. […] District 3 allows people to mix and interact with each other on a daily basis, using technology and the passion for innovation as the common language.”

El Bawab said the lab emerged from the recognition that there is a resource gap that needs to be filled. The lab attempts to foster a community of innovators and entrepreneurs, and allows makers to mingle and exchange ideas.

“Technology and access to knowledge are being democratized and shared at hyperspeed thanks to the internet and newer innovations. […] District 3 allows people to mix and interact with each other on a daily basis, using technology and the passion for innovation as the common language.”

District 3 also offers an opportunity for alternative education, El Bawab said, as it “allows for the education system to persist under a very rapidly changing environment. It allows for testing and experimenting with new technologies on a daily basis, and exposing people to new modes of learning without ignoring the traditional educational route.”

District 3 has helped launch more than forty startups since its inception, and they work in areas that range from video game production to graphic design to the culinary arts. Between time-effective to interactive to just plain strange creations, there is certainly no shortage of ideas within Montreal’s entrepreneurial community.

Tailor2Go specializes in customized outerwear: a mobile, solar-powered truck brings a 3D scanner to the customer’s location, where they are scanned for precise measurements. Customers can feel sample fabrics and design articles of clothing which are then packed and delivered within three weeks.

Another startup that Dirict 3 helped launch is AdviseAuto, which connects your car’s computer to a 3G network, allowing your car dealership to monitor and store information such as mileage, vehicle identification number, and more, so that drivers don’t have to be the ones remembering when their next oil change should be.

Notetracks, another startup, allows musicians to comment on each other’s work; it allows users to annotate the track’s audio timeline with text and drawings. The presentation of notes is then displayed along an audio waveform.
Other ventures include apps and social platforms that connect artists and designers with low-cost rental space, enable users to buy secondhand products from friends of friends, help users pronounce a person’s name as they would in their own native language, or see in 3D whether furniture and home decor items sold online will fit in their homes.

Reiterating District 3’s strong emphasis on accessibility, El Bawab noted, “It’s open to everyone in Montreal, from any university and any educational background. The only condition is to be a curious person willing to learn and share with the people around you.”

­— With files from Andrea Horqque

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Eating disorders are rarely talked about, but are particularly prevalent in the years after puberty (95 per cent of people with eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25, according to the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders), and often rear their ugly heads in stressful environments, such as moving out, studying in a highly competitive atmosphere, and learning to make one’s way in the adult world. As one would expect, university students have high rates of eating disorders in comparison to the average population.

McGill’s EDP deals with this wonderfully. It incorporates a team mentality between patient, case coordinator, psychologist, psychiatrist if necessary, nutritionist, and, in some cases, a group of individuals with eating disorders, such as the psycho-education group, and meal support groups. All of the staff members are respectful and personable, and make their expertise and caring evident. Despite understaffing, the McGill EDP makes it evident that they care about patients’ well-being, and will help you to the best of their abilities, which are extraordinary.

While McGill Mental Health and the EDP both face a tremendous amount of pressure, it is a shame not to recognize the extraordinary efforts and successes of the EDP in helping students, and going above and beyond the standard.

—Anonymous student

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Framing voting as the main form of political engagement disregards the fact that it’s not accessible to everyone. For example, permanent residents are not allowed to vote federally despite living and paying taxes in Canada and being able to vote in municipal elections; this citizenship condition is arbitrary and difficult to obtain. Polling stations may not be accessible for people with physical disabilities, people who have to travel further in rural areas, or people who cannot afford to take the time to vote due to incompatible work schedules. Additionally, the Conservatives’ so-called Fair Elections Act has made it more difficult for certain populations, such as Indigenous people, young people, and homeless people, to meet the voter identification requirements to cast a ballot. The act of voting is most accessible to those already privileged in Canadian society, while the people who can’t vote are often the ones who would benefit the most from political change.

Further, the emphasis on voting as an act of civic responsibility can have the opposite of its intended effect in that it can actually limit political engagement. Praising those who vote as politically engaged legitimizes the notion that tuning in to vote every five years or so is enough to enact change. By focusing only on voting, this rhetoric restricts political expression to the limited range of ideas in the platforms of political parties. Because there is significant ideological overlap between the three main political parties, systemic change cannot necessarily be achieved through elections.

There are many other ways people in Canada can get politically involved and enact actual change. Political engagement outside of the governmental system through civil society groups and grassroots organizations can be effective in tackling systemic issues. Protesting and striking are other effective ways of promoting the interests of groups whose concerns are not addressed through voting, as both actions place economic pressure on the government in a call for change. While voting might incite some change within the confines of our current oppressive political system, we should not perpetuate the rhetoric of voting as the be-all and end-all of engagement. Our federal candidates might be promising real change, but we must start legitimizing other, often more effective and accessible methods for creating systemic change.

­—The McGill Daily editorial board

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The team, led by Xiao Zhang, professor of tumor development at the Del Web Centre for Neuroscience, purchased their spider venom in bulk instead of using the conventional “spider milking” technique to obtain the venom. This allowed the researchers to purify large amounts of the toxin to examine the way it interacts with ion channels. The information gained from the study may lead to the development of new drugs.

Every living cell comes equipped with a set of specialized proteins that govern the flow of ions in and out of the cell membrane. These proteins, called ion channels, are essential to the functioning of every organism: they control neural synapses, or the way the brain communicates with the body. A single cell contains over 300 types of ion channels, and when one stops functioning properly, the results can be fatal.

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) – the toxin found in raw puffer fish meat – will cause vomiting, muscle paralysis, and possibly death when consumed. It works by binding to sodium channels in nerve cell membranes, stopping the transmission of electrical signals to the muscles. Venom from the American funnel web spider works similarly to TTX, but blocks the calcium channel that is used to control the heartbeat and release hormones.

Ion channels are sometimes only one or two atoms wide at their narrowest point and, because of their small size, their structure has only recently been made clear. Researchers were able to observe the way toxins block channels to gain insight into the way the channels work, and to develop drugs to treat channels that have stopped functioning properly. When a new toxin is isolated, researchers have a new tool with which to study channels; in this case, it was the calcium channel.

While researchers have suspected the channel-blocking nature of the American funnel web spider’s venom for a decade, they have been unable to convert the toxin to a usable form.  In a phone interview with The Daily, Zhang said that in purifying and isolating the toxin, the team was able to overcome a “research barrier that has been blocking progress for ten years.”

The team hopes that with the information gained from this study, they will be able to isolate new toxins, and develop better drugs for heart failure, epilepsy, and pain.

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Work was conducted at EPFL’s Electromagnetic Compatibility Laboratory in conjunction with two Colombian universities, the National University of Colombia and the University of Los Andes. Motivated in part by ongoing revolutionary conflict in their home country of Colombia, Nicolás Mora and Felix Vega decided to complete their thesis on the subject after being awarded Swiss research scholarships. Their professor, and the director of the project, Francisco Roman, guided the development from Bogotá. The researchers’ work came to fruition in late 2010, as successful system tests were carried out in Colombia last November.

Their device emits short and intense pulses of electromagnetic energy in order to induce currents in the mine’s detonator and set off the bomb. Although they are crafted out of a variety of materials – which originally made a universally effective device difficult to conceive of – the scientists learned that all IEDs are detonated at around the same frequency. Thus, the waves are focused at a limited range of the radio spectrum in order to both conserve enough energy to effect detonation from a distance and function for an array of landmine types.

Remote explosion differs from other more tedious de-mining methods, which often entail neutralization rather than detonation and can be dangerous, since there may be a secondary switch on the mine. Because guerilla groups typically construct their bombs out of uneasily detectable materials like plastic and do not chart their location, finding IEDs traditionally entails extensive fieldwork. Locating mines requires removing vegetation with unorthodox tools, including hooks, cords, dogs, and even human hands. Because of this clearing one square kilometre of land can take months, since it must be completely secure for inhabitants to return to afterwards. The new device allows for detonation from up to twenty metres away without these uncertain logistical difficulties.

While IEDs are utilized in conflicts spanning the globe from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka, this development would be particularly useful in the doctoral students’ native Colombia, where the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has been active since the 1960s. Like similar rebel groups from the time period, FARC was inspired by Marxist-Leninist teachings and sought to displace established oligarchs in favor of the rural poor. Group composition has transformed over time, however, and their precise demands have become unclear in recent years. The 2006 election of President Juan Manuel Santos saw the beginning of a successful persecution of the rebel groups, whose presence has been lessening as they retreat to the countryside.

Despite this decline, scientists closely involved with the project have been required to agree to confidentiality contracts, even though they are happy to receive media attention. Vega explained in an email, “Low-intensity wars, landmines and scientific initiatives from third world countries are not on the main spot of the media every day. However, the sponsors of the research ask us to stay away from the media, because – here is the paradox – this may expose the team working in Colombia.”

In an interview with The Daily, a researcher involved with the project, who wished to remain anonymous, further attributes the controversy to the fact that the project is being undertaken in part by the National University of Colombia. According to this source, the University has been the centre of various political movements over the years and has consequentially been accused of mentoring guerilla leaders and aiding their efforts. In fact, one of the most prominent FARC leaders, Alfonso Cano, attended the university in the 1970s. Clearly, this scientific development has significant political implications.

Among these implications, the most important is the device’s ability to save and improve lives. Colombia has the highest number of landmine victims reported each year in the Western Hemisphere, with civilians accounting for one third of the annual 1,000 victims. An additional aspect of landmine detonation does not receive much attention is displacement, as dense IED implementation has led 4 million Colombians to be driven from their neighbourhoods due to the risk of accidental detonation. All over the world, thousands die each year from improvised landmines used in present and past conflicts. Even when fighting has ended, leftover mines threaten civilians who attempt to reinhabit the effected areas.

While researchers hope to eventually distribute the device to regions like these, they acknowledge difficulties posed by different and uncertain terrain, rebel patterns, and political climates. The source speculated that it will take a few more years to put the development into action – “You’ve solved the scientific part, now you have to get [the device] in the back of a truck somewhere.” This somewhere is intended to be an inactive conflict zone in a humanitarian setting, so that the electromagnetic waves would not trigger accidental detonation or interfere with civilians and combatants.

Representatives from governments and private enterprises have already contacted directors of the project to investigate potential distribution of the technology. Now that the science is completed, it will be the market’s job to coordinate dispersal of this technology and dictate the extent to which it helps clear dangerous areas and save civilian lives.

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Parasitic illnesses – which include Lyme disease, malaria, and scabies – affect approximately 1 billion people worldwide in disease-endemic countries that lack the capacity to eliminate them, perpetuating the cycle of poverty. These debilitating diseases primarily stem from parasitic worms, called helminths, which live inside the human body. Geary’s research, which was jointly conducted with Éliane Ubalijoro, professor in McGill’s Institute for the Study of International Development, focusses on developing new drugs to combat these increasingly resistant parasites. The researchers intend to identify and harness compounds from microbial and botanical sources that occur naturally in African biodiversity in order to develop cures.

Funding for the grant is provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Grand Challenges Canada, both non-profit organizations that seek to address the many challenges facing the developing world. This represents a significant humanitarian effort on behalf of the Canadian government, because it has allocated $225 million over five years to the Development Innovation Fund. Grand Challenges Canada is responsible for delivering that money in partnership with the International Development Research Centre and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

The research was conducted in partnership with African scientists, notably Kelly Chibale of the University of Cape Town, and Berhanu Abegaz and Kerstin Marobela of the University of Botswana. Despite impressive contributions from McGill, the majority of the research is to be conducted in Africa at universities and in the field. “We hope to allow people who have these diseases to lead the discovery process for new cures for them,” Geary explained in an interview with The Daily. The proximity will likely allow for more successful research and effective implementation of cures, once they are found. “We want as much of the ownership of the intellectual property as possible to be theirs.”

The initiative indicates the significant role of both McGill and Canada on the international stage. It emphasizes the capacity of the Parasitology department at McGill and includes qualified professors from a variety of branches within the field. These professors are capable of making significant differences in global health and tropical medicine. Additionally, it highlights McGill’s effort to integrate advancements in science and technology from around the world. “International collaborations are very important for McGill, not just in the sense of going to Italy to view art, which is nice, but also in developing global research initiatives that can help solve significant health problems in other countries,” said Geary.

Furthermore, the project promotes Canada’s presence on the international stage as a whole and specifically in the area of global health. By addressing the parasitic diseases that plague so many, Canada continues to be a vital and capable actor in the international community that outside organizations and governments are eager to collaborate with.

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Registry is free for the seminar. Click here to register.

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With the ever-increasing importance of technology in the development of key sectors such as education and business, the global digital divide, the popular term for the difference in access to information and communication technologies (ICTs), is one of the most pressing issues facing developing countries. Its effect is further compounded by the prohibitively high costs of implementing the required infrastructure for technological development, leaving most nations dependent on small satellite terminals which suffer from extremely high latency.

Though the digital divide is a recognized phenomenon, there have been very few efforts to quantify the gap, as there still isn’t a clear definition of what constitutes a country’s technological standing. In a paper published in the International Journal of Business Information Systems, Steven White, professor of Marketing and International Business at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, set out to do exactly that. Using previous research as a basis, White mapped out the global figures for computers per 100 people, internet users per 100 people, and international internet bandwidth per capita.

Using data from 172 countries, White segmented states by using a multi-stage cluster analysis to establish four tiers. Tier one represented the nations with the highest access to ICTs, and each tier was further segmented into clusters. Though the difference between the top and bottom tiers wasn’t that surprising, the study revealed strong progress being made by some developing countries. For instance, tier one includes countries such as Chile and Jamaica. Jamaica is in the second cluster, ahead of Canada (located in the second cluster), and the United States in the third.

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Stimuli that are necessary for survival – like food and sex – involve a reward system in the brain called the dopamine reinforcement circuitry. This circuit is ancient and has evolved to reinforce behaviour necessary for survival. The demonstration that an abstract reward, such as music, can lead to dopamine release suggests why music, which has no obvious survival value, is so prevalent across human society.

The team at the MNI measured dopamine release in response to music that induced “chills”: changes in heart rate, respiration, skin conductance, and temperature. Chills are byproducts of intense or sudden autonomic nervous system arousal, and some people get them very consistently when they experience intense pleasure in response to music. This allowed researchers to objectively identify when participants of the study were experiencing emotional arousal.

This innovative study showed that two separate brain circuits are involved in the release of dopamine at different phases of music listening. Researchers found that during the peak chills, dopamine was released in the ventral striatum, the same area involved with the consumption of cocaine and other intense pleasures. Furthermore, during the anticipation period, dopamine was released in the dorsal striatum, which is connected to the frontal cortex and other “thinking” areas of the brain. These areas are involved in taking information from our environment and integrating it with information that is already stored in our brain.

“Based on all the experience you have about how sounds are supposed to be formed, and how you would like them to be formed together, it’s almost as if you create an anticipatory craving of a note,” Salimpoor explained in an interview with The Daily. “When you’re listening to music, you’re not listening to it in real time, especially for a song you like. You’re usually a few seconds ahead of the music, but you still need to hear it – you need that auditory stimulation. And that’s where the pleasure comes in. It’s like expectation, then confirmation.”

Although dopamine is generally thought to be involved in anticipation, there isn’t only an anticipatory component to music because it’s not pleasurable to hear a single note. But since music is a whole bunch of single notes organized in time, the researchers concluded that it was the time component that made the listening experience so pleasurable. “It’s kind of like a roller coaster in a sense, because you go on it to experience emotions and feelings, but it’s perfectly predictable,” Salimpoor said. “You know what’s going to happen, but it still surprises you and you still enjoy that surprise.”

Technically, people could listen to their favourite part of the song over and over again, but nobody does that because the buildup of anticipation is what’s important. In the case of music, dopamine plays a role in both the anticipation of music and the realization of these expectations .

When people are asked why they enjoy listening to music so much, it always comes down to the enhancement of emotions. Imagine watching blockbuster movies like Titanic or Jaws without a soundtrack. Would people really be able to feel the passion, fear, and distress of the characters without the sumptuous, thematic soundtracks that shake your heart and shuffle your mind?

“This is the question I always get asked: Are we addicted to music?” Salimpoor said. “I say yes because look at how much money our society spends on going to concerts, buying music, buying speakers, iPods, and anything to basically enhance these musical sensations. And so yes, I do think we’re at least mildly addicted to music. And now here’s the physiological proof that music is working in our systems.”

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Why it should kill you:

Your intestines are crawling with trillions of bacteria and other microbes, many of which are indistinguishable from those that make you ill. An entire ecosystem of organisms lines the inside of your gut, uniquely adapted to surviving the harsh conditions of the human intestine. Not only are these microbes loitering inside you, they are clever enough to obtain necessary resources directly from your body. If the integrity of the intestinal wall is breached, these bacteria can invade the host (you) and become a threat.

What it does instead:

The constant interaction with these unique organisms serves several valuable functions. They ferment non-digestible materials (such as unabsorbed alcohol and gum) and are key players in normal immune resistance. When the body interacts with these microorganisms, it learns about the external environment and cultivates specialized responses to antigens, essential for the development of a capable immune system. The organisms themselves barricade invading pathogens by competing for space and nutrition, and release antimicrobial substances to limit the proliferation of harmful bacteria.

Apoptosis (programmed cellular suicide)

Why it should kill you:

Believe it or not, your cells are programmed to die. Upon receiving appropriate signals, the cell can activate a class of internal proteins that wreak havoc on organelles. Other activated proteins attack the cell’s DNA, destroying any possibility of normal cell function. Apoptosis can be triggered by molecular binding of the cell’s “death receptors” – unprotected surface proteins that, when stimulated, initiate a series of reactions that lead to breakdown of the cellular membrane, cell shrinkage, and DNA fragmentation.

What it does instead:

Apoptosis is a tightly regulated process, and ridding the system of unneeded cells is important in maintaining healthy body function. In some cases, excess cells are produced and only those that properly mature survive. Programmed cell death serves as a practical self-editing mechanism, enabling the body to keep only the beneficial cells around. Surrounding cells keep a close check on this degradation, engulfing the leftover fragments before any damage to the body can occur.

Activation-Induced Deaminase (AID)

Why it should kill you:

AID is a simple protein that distorts normal patterns of DNA by deliberately introducing mutations. By rearranging the chemical composition of DNA molecules, this process will transform the proteins that will then be produced by the cell. Manipulating genomic material can have detrimental effects, including disrupting the cell’s usual activity and encouraging the growth of malignancies.

What it does instead:

At any given moment, an overwhelmingly large population of pathogens can enter your body, which your immune system must battle. AID’s unique abilities to induce random genetic mutations in certain immune cells is harnessed; accelerating the evolutionary process and generating a wide range of highly differentiated cells enabling individualized response to specific antigenic substances. Thankfully, precise regulators that restrict AID’s potentially damaging activity to particular cells of the immune system silence unwelcomed mutagenesis in the rest of your body.

Neural adaptation

Why it should kill you:

Neurons are lazy. In a complete affront to all logical thought, many sensory neurons become less responsive when confronted with continuous stimulus. They’ll respond to the onset of stimuli, but do not continue to convey this information if the stimulus persists. Your neurons tire of sending the same sensory information to your brain, and, if you think about it, this should have some pretty heinous effects on all neurological functions. If your brain doesn’t get updated, how can proper control persist?

What it does instead:

The body is magnificent. Not only can it decide which sensory information is important, it actually assigns individual properties to different neurons depending on their role. For something like pain receptors, neurons do not exhibit this lethargy; you continue to acknowledge pain even if it is unaltered. However, right now you probably aren’t thinking about the fact that your foot is still touching the floor, and perhaps that nasty locker room odour has become tolerable. This is a direct result of your neural system’s ability to adaptively silence redundant sensory information.

Killer T Cells

Why it should kill you:

Killer T Cells are important to the immune response. But instead of reacting to invading bacteria or viruses, Killer Ts attack your own cells. Unlike other immune cells, Killer Ts can’t even recognize these pathogens; their activity is limited exclusively to attacking the organism’s own cells. When active, Killer Ts release “cytotoxic granules” that can bind to the target cell’s membrane and induce apoptosis.

What it does instead:

The regulation of our own cells is our main defence against viruses and cancers. Other cells in the immune system often miss viral infections because viruses don’t float around the space between cells, like bacteria – they hide inside human cells. Killer Ts become activated when they bind to cells that are infected with a virus or have genetic alterations associated with cancers. When a cell becomes damaged, it presents a specific receptor on its surface that stimulates the Killer Ts, confining their prolific killing abilities to only those cells that may harm the body.

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