Book & podcast collection

Why Aren’t We Dead Yet?: the survivor’s guide to the immune system

byIdan Ben-Barak

Microbiologist Idan Ben-Barak introduces the immune system through the daily question implied by the title: given constant exposure to pathogens, why are most people alive? He explains barriers, inflammation, antibodies, immune memory, vaccination, allergies, autoimmunity, and the evolutionary contest between hosts and microbes. The book uses humor and clear analogies without portraying immunity as a simple army that always knows the enemy. Ben-Barak shows a distributed system built on communication, tradeoffs, and occasional dangerous mistakes, giving readers a practical understanding of how bodies survive and why defenses sometimes cause disease.

Publisher

Scribe Publications

Publication date

2018

Format

Print edition

Pages

240

ISBN

9781947534377