Immune – A Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps you Alive

 

Book Review

 

Immune – A Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps you Alive

 

“Immune” is a book that takes us on a fascinating adventure inside our body to learn about our immune system – the superhero that keeps us alive. It’s an adventurous explanation which is very easy to understand, for curious kids and curious adults.

Imagine our immune system as a special shield that protects us from tiny invaders called germs. These germs are like sneaky villains of our story that can make us sick. But guess what? Our immune system is a team of brave knights who sacrifice themselves for us and fight off these germs to keep us safe and alive!

The book starts by telling us about different types of cells in our body like T-cells, B-cells, Dendric cells, etc. These cells are brave knights with some very special and unique powers. Some fight the germs head on, some collect the information of the germs to activate the heavy machine guns in our body (just a metaphor), and some are just suicide bombers like from the Japan Bomb Squad in WW2.

Something very cool is that the immune system has not been smart from the start, it learns just like us! It learns from every germ it fights, like how we learn from our mistakes. So, if the same germ tries to attack us again, our immune system remembers and stops it quicker than before. It’s like having a secret that helps you stay healthy.

“Immune” also talks about something called antibodies. These are like homing missiles our immune system uses to lock onto germs and defeat them. It’s like a superhero using a special tool to catch the bad guys.

Sometimes, our immune system gets a little mixed up and thinks harmless things like pollen or certain foods are dangerous. This is what we call an allergy. Bug don’t worry, “Immune” also explains the way this happens and how it will be cured soon.

“Immune” also tells us how diseases are caused like Flu, Corona Virus, Rabies, Smallpox, Polio, etc. It explains the limitations of our immune systems in different areas like lungs, brain, heart, etc.

It gives us the explanation of how the immune system acts in certain cases scenarios like when we end up stepping on a dirty nail, someone sneezes in front of us and we inhale the same air, also how we can act in these situations.

The book explains the whole cycle of activation of the immune system and the two types of immune systems – Innate and Adaptive. How they are different and what work both do.

Now we have talked about the Immune system’s existence, let’s learn how we can make it stronger! Eating good food, like fruits and veggies, and getting lots of exercise. It’s like giving our superhero team the energy and training they need to fight off the bad guys more efficiently.

The book is full of real stories about people who got better from serious illnesses because of their strong and healthy immune systems. It’s like reading about real-life superheroes! And there are scientists who study the immune system to understand how it works just like detectives!

In a nutshell, “Immune” is a super awesome book that shows us the incredible world of our immune system. It’s a journey into our own bodies to discover how the immune system fights germs and keeps us well. Reading “Immune” is like having a fun tour to a castle of flesh with soldiers, kings, workers, and they fight the intruders to save their land. The writer Philipp Dettmer (Creator of Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell a YouTube channel with over 15 million subscribers is a science channel which makes very complex topic like Quantum Physics, Black Holes, Quantum Computers and many more topics easier to understand even for an 8^th grader) has explained every aspect of the immune system in grave detail with simple language. So, if you’re curious, “Immune is the book to read!