"We found that the cells basically attach a lysosome onto a large plaque, and they expel enzymes into the space that can digest the amyloid," said Frederick Maxfield, M.S. '73, Ph.D. '77 ...

When the zoologist Elie Metchnikoff discovered how certain cells could devour and digest cell debris and foreign bodies, he coined the perfect name: macrophages. That’s Greek for ‘big eaters’.