Review by Choice Review
Immunology is not the easiest of subjects to understand. Davis is a professor of immunology at the University of Manchester (UK) with a great deal of research experience; he previously wrote The Compatibility Gene: How Our Bodies Fight Disease, Attract Others, and Define Our Selves (CH, May'14, 51-5046). Here he describes the history and recent advances in immunology with clarity. He traces many stories of discovery, including developing adjuvants (substances that make vaccines work), using cytokines to treat diseases, and using the immune system to treat cancer. Perhaps just as valuable as the science is the glimpse into the scientific process. Davis weaves information from interviews and scholarly publications to illuminate how initial investigations seem unfocused because researchers do not yet know what to focus on, how credit for discoveries is awarded or not, and how the path from initial discovery to clinical use is long and convoluted. These stories remind readers that discoveries are made by people who bring their curiosity, passion, and wonder to their work. They also bring insecurities, competition, and greed, layering human complexity into the scientific. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Jolene M. Miller, University of Toledo
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Davis (The Compatibility Gene), a professor of immunology at Manchester University, provides health-conscious readers with a broad overview of his specialty. His book concentrates on two main tasks: sharing scientific facts about how the immune system works, and celebrating the heroes and rebels of immunology and their breakthroughs, from Edward Jenner's 1796 development of a smallpox vaccine to Charles Janeway's 1989 theory of how the immune response is triggered. At present, scientists are experimenting with ways of manipulating the immune system, in order to support beneficial and supplant dangerous behavior by cells that can prevent or cause disease. This is a relatively new form of fighting disease, and challenging for a layperson to understand, but Davis clearly explains how the immune and nervous systems carry on a "dialogue" and employ "a collection of mechanisms" to keep the body from attacking its own healthy cells. Davis leaves readers with a reminder that, for all the scientific innovations described here, the human immune system remains "far more powerful than any medicine we have devised," and that sleep, healthy eating, mindfulness, and other complementary practices all appear to help. A modern equivalent of Paul de Kruif's 1926 classic, Microbe Hunters, Davis's work is concise and illuminating. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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