Bitesize Immunology – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Bitesize Immunology

Rayan Najjar

Science

Frequency: 1 episode/66d. Total Eps: 7

Immunology has a reputation of being hard to understand. I use stories and analogies to illustrate how the immune system works.

Site

RSS

Apple

Data updated on 04/07/2026

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.

See all

No links shared by this podcast

RSS feed quality and score

Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.

See all

RSS feed quality

To improve

Score global : 33%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

Recent episodes with titles, durations, and descriptions.

See all

What is inflammation?

Season 1 · Episode 6

Saturday, May 10, 2025 • Duration 16:38

We live in peak popularity of the term inflammation, so what exactly is it?

- Inflammation is good for you

- Did you know fever is not caused by pathogens, rather it is your immune system making you feel miserable, why does it do that?

- what are the types of inflammation?

Transcript at najjar.blog

Read moreCollapse

What are T cells?

Season 1 · Episode 5

Sunday, December 1, 2024 • Duration 14:17

T cells and their types: bounty hunter, personal trainer, plumber with anxiety, lobbyist, oracle, and the patron saint of antigens

For illustrations of T cells as I imagine them on this podcast, follow me on bluesky bsky.app/profile/rna-guy.bsky.social

Transcript at najjar.blog

Can you guess why the plumber T cells have anxiety?

Read moreCollapse

What are neutrophils?

Season 1 · Episode 4

Thursday, July 4, 2024 • Duration 11:50

Neutrophils are the first responders of the immune system. I describe what they are and their name origin. Then I discuss neutrophil features in 5 parts including how they sometimes explode kamikaze style!

- Part I: First responders

- Part II: Bleach spray

- Part III: Kamikaze

- Part IV: Healers

- Part V: Understudied

Read moreCollapse

How does the immune system have existing blueprints targeting viruses it has never seen before?

Season 1 · Episode 3

Sunday, May 19, 2024 • Duration 11:57

Lymphocytes have surface receptors that recognize antigens. These receptors have existing templates that are complementary to the 3D structures of antigens from viruses and other pathogens, even before you encounter these pathogens. How is this possible?

In this episode, I answer the question above, plus I talk about the following:

- Lymphocyte types including B cells and T cells

- The self vs non-self paradigm of the immune system

- How can the immune system generate a large pool of lymphocyte receptors without directly encoding them from inherited DNA?

Read moreCollapse

What are antibodies? And what are their functions?

Season 1 · Episode 2

Saturday, April 27, 2024 • Duration 11:16

What would it feel like if you were attacked by antibodies? Antibodies are custom made weapons produced by the immune system to target pathogens. In this episode, I make an analogy of how antibodies attack, and tell stories of a fox hunting rabbits, a castle under attack, and two types of leaves. These stories illustrate the functions of antibodies.

Disclaimer: I am a physician scientist at the University of Washington. However, this is a personal podcast, produced in my own time and is unaffiliated with the University of Washington.

Read moreCollapse

Dendritic cells: How does the immune system know when there is an infection?

Season 1 · Episode 1

Sunday, April 7, 2024 • Duration 10:36

The immune system needs to find out if there's a microbe such as a virus that's replicating and causing an infection, plus the immune system wants to collect information about the virus in order to target it with custom-made weapons.

I use multiple analogies to explain what dendritic cells do in 4 chapters:

- Chapter 1 Surveillance. Dendritic cells are like radar workers, constantly looking for enemy activity.

- Chapter 2 Friend or foe. Dendritic cells have the responsibility of deciding if there is a microbial infection or not, a mistake here can be very costly.

- Chapter 3 A journey to the lymph node. how do dendritic cells find their way to the lymph node to deliver enemy intel? And why weren't they moving in that direction before detecting an infection?

- Chapter 4 A meeting of the immune cells. Dendritic cells meet other immune cells and take the war to the next phase. An army of clones will be created.

Disclaimer: I am a physician scientist at the University of Washington. However, this is a personal podcast, produced in my own time and is unaffiliated with the University of Washington.

Read moreCollapse

Introduction

Sunday, April 7, 2024 • Duration 02:01

I am a physician scientist in rheumatology, which is a field of medicine that specializes in autoimmune diseases.

Immunology has a reputation of being complex and hard to understand. I hope this podcast will help people in biology and medical fields to better understand the immune system. I also hope any one with an interest in biology can learn and find inspiration in this podcast. I will try to keep the language jargon-free and simple, and will explain any potentially unfamiliar terms. Plus there will be lots of analogies.

Disclaimer: I work at the University of Washington. However, this is a personal podcast, produced in my own time and is unaffiliated with the University of Washington. This podcast will include educational material only and will not include advice on medical care.

Read moreCollapse

Bitesize Immunology – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Bitesize Immunology – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify