000			01836nam a22001937a 4500
999			_c3923 _d3923
005			20221123112749.0
008			221123b ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9780062698537
082			_a616.079 _bRIC
100			_aRichtel, Matt _99142
245			_aElegant defense: _bthe extraordinary new science of the immune system
260			_bWilliam Morrow _aNew York _c2019
300			_axi, 425 p.
365			_aINR _b899.00
520			_aThe immune system is our body’s essential defense network, a guardian vigilantly fighting illness, healing wounds, maintaining order and balance, and keeping us alive. It has been honed by evolution over millennia to face an almost infinite array of threats. For all its astonishing complexity, however, the immune system can be easily compromised by fatigue, stress, toxins, advanced age, and poor nutrition—hallmarks of modern life—and even by excessive hygiene. Paradoxically, it is a fragile wonder weapon that can turn on our own bodies with startling results, leading today to epidemic levels of autoimmune disorders. An Elegant Defense effortlessly guides readers on a scientific detective tale winding from the Black Plague to twentieth-century breakthroughs in vaccination and antibiotics, to today’s laboratories that are revolutionizing immunology—perhaps the most extraordinary and consequential medical story of our time. Drawing on extensive new interviews with dozens of world-renowned scientists, Richtel has produced a landmark book, equally an investigation into the deepest riddles of survival and a profoundly human tale that is movingly brought to life through the eyes of his four main characters, each of whom illuminates an essential facet of our “elegant defense.”
650			_aImmune system _910275
650			_aImmunology _910276
942			_2ddc _cBK