The word phagocytosis originates from the Greek words φαγεῖν (phagein), which means “to eat”, and κύτος (kytos), meaning “cell”. More importantly though phagocytosis is the first line of our body’s defense against bacteria and pathogens. This mechanism works exactly as you would imagine after reading the first sentence.
Watch macrophages circle the pathogen A. fumigatus conidia in this amazing process as captured by the Humanitas Imaging Unit.
