The following chart compares and summarizes all of the important parts of each immune system:
| Attribute | Innate Immunity | Adaptive Immunity |
|---|---|---|
| Response Time | Fast: minutes or hours | Slow: days |
| Specificity | Only specific for molecules and molecular patterns associated with general pathogens or foreign particles | Highly specific! Can discriminate between pathogen vs. non-pathogen structures, and miniscule differences in molecular structures |
| Major Cell Types | Macrophages, Neutrophils, Natural Killer Cells, Dendritic Cells, Basophils, Eosinophils | T cells, B cells, and other antigen presenting cells |
| Key Components | Antimicrobial peptides and proteins, such as toxic granules | Antibodies |
| Self vs. Nonself Discrimination | Innate immunity is based on self vs. nonself discrimination, so it has to be perfect | Not as good as the innate immune system, but still pretty good at determining which is which. Problems in self vs. nonself discrimination result in autoimmune diseases |
| Immunological Memory | None | Memory used can lead to faster response to recurrent or subsequent infections |
| Diversity and Customization | Limited: Receptors used are standard and only recognize antigen patterns. No new receptors are made to adapt the immune response | Highly diverse: can be customized by genetic recombination to recognize epitopes and antigenic determinants. |