Innate immune system recognition of microbial pathogens

The long-term goal of our laboratory is to understand vertebrate host recog nition of microbial pathogens. Although our work is primarily curiosity dri ven, it is certainly true that understanding how a host recognizes microbia l pathogens should have some medical application. Probably more than 50,000 people die each year in the United States of septic shock or the systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and there is no good therapy for this probl em. Understanding the molecular basis of its origin should suggest novel th erapeutic approaches.