The body's first line of defense just may be the 'root of all evil' | By Karen Kreeger Courtesy of Keith Crutcher IMMUNITY IN MIND: Cultured microglial (N9) cells (red) on a tissue section containing an Alzheimer plaque (green). There is continuing controversy about whether these types of inflammatory cells are responding to plaques or causing them. A finger catches the sharp edge of an envelope; a noseful of tree pollen is accidentally inhaled; the latest virus finds host after human host. In all cases the assaulted body reacts through inflammation, a well known, but not well defined process, especially...