India, Oct. 6 -- The Nobel Prize in medicine of physiology was announced on October 6 for three scientists for discovering how a particular kind of cell can stop the body's immune system from attacking itself.

The cells known as "T-cells" are a new hope for fighting autoimmune diseases and cancer.

After Americans Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell and Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi were announced new Nobel laureates at a ceremony in Stockholm, here is what you need to know about their work:

The immune system is your body's first line of defence against invaders such as microbes that could give you an infection. It helps the body protect itself from foreign germs that could harm its health. The most powerful defence of the immune system is white ...