Read this burb: “… it’s misleading to think of the immune system as solely a war machine. It must also keep the peace, assessing each threat and, in many cases, deciding to stand down. (This often-overlooked peacekeeping role is what allows the microbiome, the collection of microorganisms that live in and on the body, to thrive.) In An Elegant Defense, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Matt Richtel argues that it is this ability — to differentiate friend from foe (or neutral party) and act accordingly — that makes the immune system so powerful and so elegant.
“It is a system precisely and delicately tailored to stay in balance, keep the peace and do as little damage as possible to us and our surroundings,” he writes. And that balance is central to our health.
An Elegant Defense offers a sweeping overview of immunology’s history, from Élie Metchnikoff’s observations in the 1800s of immune cells swarming splinters in starfish larvae to recent discoveries underpinning cancer immunotherapy. Richtel explains all of this science through the stories of four individuals deeply affected by their immune systems. Richtel’s childhood friend Jason Greenstein is battling a stubborn form of Hodgkin’s disease that seems to be invisible to his immune response. Bob Hoff contracted HIV in 1977, but his immune system managed to keep the virus in check. And the lives of Linda Segre and Merredith Branscombe have been radically altered by their overactive immune systems.”
I am certainly interested in reading it! Thanks for sharing, Paul!!!
Given the topic of the book, you may find this NPR report interesting: https://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/2016/01/part-1-immunotherapythe-original-super.html
Wishing you a great weekend! Celeste
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