the.com/thymus
the gland that teaches your immune cells not to attack you, then quietly retires by adulthood
means A small organ in the chest, just behind the breastbone, where infection-fighting T-cells mature and learn to distinguish friend from foe before it gradually shrinks with age.
from From Greek 'thymos,' the same word used for the herb thyme — and the resemblance is the point: early anatomists thought the gland looked like a cluster of thyme flowers or a budding sprig. The Greek 'thymos' also carried meanings of spirit, breath, and the seat of feeling, so the name sits over a quiet pun: a fleshy bloom tucked near the heart.
- shrinks early
- Peaks at puberty, then slowly fills with fat
- t-cell school
- The 'T' in T-cells stands for thymus
- culinary name
- Sold as sweetbreads, despite being neither sweet nor bread
- self-defense
- Kills off cells that would attack your own body
- named for thyme
- Greeks thought it resembled a thyme leaf
digeorge syndrome — congenital condition where thymus fails to develop properly, affecting ~1 in 2,500 births
myasthenia gravis — autoimmune disorder where thymus produces abnormal antibodies, found in ~10-20% of cases with thymoma
hassall's corpuscles — distinctive concentric structures in thymus medulla discovered in 1694 and named after anatomist joseph hassall