immune tolerance
Immune tolerance is the goal of coaxing the immune system to accept a graft as 'self' — to leave it in peace — without a lifetime of immune-dampening drugs. Instead of standing guard with the security team switched off, the body genuinely updates its own guest list so the new tissue counts as a welcome resident.
Researchers try to teach this acceptance in several ways: introducing donor cells so the body learns to read their markers as familiar, or nudging the special regulatory immune cells whose job is to call off attacks. Done well, the immune system stays fully active against germs and tumors, yet treats the graft as one of its own.
True, durable tolerance is hard to achieve and still mostly experimental, but it is one of the field's great prizes: a transplant that lasts without the constant cost and risk of suppressing the whole immune system.
Think of the body finally adding the new tissue to its 'family photo': from then on the immune patrol nods it through instead of sounding the alarm.
Acceptance, not suppression — the holy grail of transplants.
Lasting tolerance remains hard to achieve and is still largely experimental, not a routine clinical option.