Immune: A Journey Into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive

by Philipp Dettmer

Would you like more aggressive and stronger Macrophages or Neutrophils? Well, this would mean more and stronger inflammation, more fever, more feeling sick and tired even if you encounter only small and minor infections. How about superstrong Natural Killer Cells to kill more infected or cancer cells? OK, but they might be so motivated that they eat away at healthy cells that just happen to be around! Do you want to boost your Dendritic Cells so that they will start activating the Adaptive Immune System more? That would drain and exhaust the resources of your immune system even for small dangers, leaving you open and vulnerable when a seriously dangerous infection happens. Or maybe you could boost your T and B Cells, making them much easier to activate, but which would cause autoimmune diseases as some of these cells will certainly begin attacking your own tissue. Once your boosted antibodies and T Cells have begun killing your heart or liver cells they will not stop until they have finished their job. Maybe this is all not dangerous enough for you, and you would rather boost your Mast Cells and the B Cells that produce IgE Antibodies, the combination of cells that is responsible for allergies. Food that was only mildly irritating to your bowel will now cause violent diarrhea or allergic reactions that could kill you in minutes. Is all of this too boring? Why not think outside of the box and boost all the regulatory parts of your defense systems so they shut your immune sy...