A group of scientists recently announced that they are a step closely to a way to 'switch off' peanut allergies. By tricking the immune system into finding the peanut proteins – which usually prompt a dangerous allergic reaction – safe, science could safely and quickly put a stop to peanut allergies.
According to the UK Telegraph, the team behind the potential cure have already found success with mice, tricking their immune systems into tolerating nut proteins without prompting an allergic reaction.
The team, working at Chicago's Northwestern University, has been working on a cure based on attaching peanut proteins to white blood cells. They hope that this approach will work in humans as well as it has worked in mice. Paul Bryce, assistant professor of medicine, explained to the UK Telegraph: "Their immune systems saw the peanut protein as perfectly normal because it was already presented on the white blood cells." According to Bryce, the same approach may also be useful for treating other food allergies, such as those to shellfish or milk.
Summing up the team work, Bryce concluded "We think we've found a say to safely and rapidly turn off the allergic response to food allergies." Though research must still be done before the cure becomes available, this is exciting news for anyone with food allergies.
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