All posts filed under: immunology

2020. Blessed is the ‘white van man’, for he delivers the goods.

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Taken recently in Lincoln, for me at least, this image seems to hold much of what 2020 has become. Boredom and the ennui generated by that. And yet so much has changed and is still yet to change. We are engulfed by a curious storm. One which is invisible to us and yet surrounds us. Let’s hope we become free of its stultifying effects soon. Life cannot continue to be ‘on hold’. It just can’t. Once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. Haruki Murakami

Immunology.

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With all the talk about Covid-19 and immunology washing around I was surprised to find a family connection of sorts whilst carrying out some family research. Some of my forbears, on my grandfathers side, are from around the Berkeley area of Gloucestershire. So what, you may ask? The founding father of immunology, Edward Jenner, was from Berkeley and whilst researching my forbears I came upon the record above. It is the actual frontispiece  of the register of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials from the small town of Berkeley in Gloucestershire.  Many of my forebears are in these records. I don’t normally start at the very front, and I’m guessing not many others do either, but this time I wanted to see the full record. That’s where I discovered this note. For those of you who do not know, Edward Jenner was the local doctor/surgeon. He is credited with the popularisation of immunisation. You can see in this document a note dated 1795 by the curate, William Davies, to the effect… “ In the spring of the …