Immunology Exam Fun (ya, i know, exam and fun in the same title O_o)

This was one of the exam questions (scroll down for funny responses):
7. If you could “redesign” one component of the immune system to make it more effective/efficient, which component would it be and why? (4 points)

The most common responses:
(1st number is # of students; 2nd is % of class)

improve IgE responses to eliminate allergy: 27, 22.0

make vdj recombination more efficient: 12, 9.8

simplify/alter complement: 12, 9.8

suppress autoimmunity somehow: 11, 8.9

improve response to HIV/viruses: 8, 6.5

speed up adaptive response: 5, 4.1

T cell selection/development: 5, 4.1

allow MHC to bind polysaccharides: 5, 4.1

be better able to clear immune complexes: 4, 3.3

change class switching: 4, 3.3

improve response to tumours: 4, 3.3

more redundancy in cytokine receptors: 3, 2.4

have a new type of T cell: 3, 2.4

enhance NK cells: 2, 1.6

remove barriers to immunopriv sites: 2, 1.6

no response! Loss of 4 points right there: 2, 1.6

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And some of my(TA's) favourite excerpts:

… What we need is better innate immunity based on better barriers - a more acidic mouth, maybe, or scales that mosquitoes and tsetse flies can't penetrate with their little teeth

… get rid of c2 and c4 for pete's sake!

… Ah, my world would be such a better place without my mast cells degranulating to dust, pollen,…

… And we all know that he who has the ATP makes the rules. I think that's a quote from Aladdin.

… Also harsher punishment for negative selection violators… and world peace.

… [in regards to complement] It would also make for happier medical students because they don't need to memorize as much

… Also, I would eliminate Factor H. Honestly, who invited that guy?

… Then, when [the NK cells] migrate to a site of inflammation, they'd be all like "ZOMG OM NOM" to more viral infected cells…"

… It wouldn't be easy, but sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.

… I would also give our CD8+ cells laser pistols and sunglasses [picture included, with a granzyme grenade]

… The thought of "design" and the immune system contradicts mountains of scientific evidence and vertebrate evolutionary history, but for four points I will "intelligently re-design" a component of a system that natural selection has been acting on for millions of years.