IMMUNE – Philipp Dettmer
Introduction
IMMUNE is a book written by Philip Dettmer, explaining in depth the “Mysterious System” that keeps you alive. The book teaches me many things about the body’s defense system. From the self suicide warriors (Neutrophils) to the big and aggressive Macrophages, and I cannot forget the battles that lay under a small thing like a cut on the thumb. Immune tells facts about the system that protects you everyday, but pulls the cover so us readers can see the battle within.
Favorite chapters
This Kurzgesagt master class gives me many amazing chapters. And I am able to pick out two.
Naked, Blind and Afraid (how does a cell see?)
Immune cells are blind, deaf and can’t talk. So how do they know where the enemies are? Well they have a unique way of communicating. They use Cytokines. So what are Cytokines? Cytokines are very small proteins that convey information. An example of this in use is when a random cell detects danger, without hesitation the cell releases these signals around the body warning the tiny defenders. Soon immune cells such as Macrophages detect these signals and rush to the scene where the threat is detected. Depending if the threat is bacteria (which it usually is), the Macrophages grab and kill all the invading microbes to stop any further damage.
This chapter is really interesting to read, as it shows me how these tiny warriors protect my body from any harmful microbes, even though they are blind, deaf and can’t even communicate with each other. The fact that every single immune cell in our body has the same feature and are still killing themselves to protect us is insane.
Cooking tasty Receptor recipes
Cells have very efficient ways of fighting enemies. They make various combinations of Receptors. They mismatch their own genetic code and make millions of possible combinations for pretty much any possible enemies. We can simplify this to cooking, many ingredients can make up many types of meals.
This chapter is pretty cool because it shows how immune cells are so strong, and how they can adapt to almost any type of enemy so I can still be living until this day. Now that we think about it, our defense system has already fought so many dangerous diseases already. Such as the Black Death, Corona virus and a lot more. Now knowing how my warriors deal with dangerous viruses, I just feel proud of my body’s defense system.
Lesson learned
Work smart not hard
In this book we learn about how cells can’t see, however they are still able to defend your body. They use cytokines to communicate and they don’t even “break a sweat”.
Take care of your body
Your body fights for you every day, the least you can do is to take care of it. Think about what you’re eating, don’t eat junk food. Workout when you can, drink water so you stay hydrated. Overall, just live healthy. The system is already playing its part from the inside and it’s our job to keep ourselves safe from any danger.
Look where you’re going
Sounds simple but it’s important. If you read the book (which I hope you do 🙂), you should have known that behind a simple thing like a cut in the thumb could be a battle between life and death for your immune cells. But all of this won’t happen if you just watch where you’re going. To be honest I have one thing to say: you only have one life so live it well because your line of defense doesn’t live forever.
Final thoughts
When I was young I watched a lot of “In a Nutshell” videos and I really loved them. I especially enjoyed the topic about the immune system. So the moment I saw this book getting released I begged my parents to buy it for me. As I read it, I was able to see in depth the “system” that was keeping me alive. And boy I felt like a Macrophage after I read a few chapters. I felt angry at the invading bacteria. But proud of the brave army of cells that is keeping me alive. Whenever I think about my immune system it reminds me of my own country, the soldiers who have fallen for millions of innocents. It applies to our bodies too. Thousands of cells have other important jobs, yet they are not able to defend themselves. That’s why the system is here for them, ready to fight off bacteria. After reading this book it gave me motivation to “LOCK IN” every moment in my life. Knowing I only have one body, I will try my best in life and never forget the system including trillions of cells fighting for me every day. I will make them proud, because at the end of the day my immune system is also my family.
Happy reading!
