This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
How much do you really know about Tuberculosis, otherwise commonly called TB? The University of Michigan Department of Engineering (friendly rival to my home U of Illinois) has put out a very accessible animated tutorial so you can learn more.
Check it out:
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This video is included as a comprehensive article entitled "Peering into the black box of Tuberculosis" discussing TB as a worldwide problem and what some U-M researchers are doing to help understand the disease more fully.
If you are completely lost as to what a macrophage is, much less a granuloma, allow me to turn your attention to one of the videos in my series, Blood Cell Bakery, where I use expertly decorated cookies to demonstrate all of the different types of blood cells in their morphology (appearance) and function. This one discusses monocytes and their differentiated state, the macrophage.
Image courtesy of U-M