An Elegant Defense by Matt Richtel The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives

ABOUT BOOK

An Elegant Defense (2019) is an erudite and approachable exploration of the immune system. Using the difficult story of a dear friend as a starting point, author Matt Richtel leads the reader through a mind-boggling tour of one of the world’s most complex systems – what he calls our “elegant defense.”

ABOUT AUTHOR

Matt Richtel is a writer and journalist. His reporting for the New York Times won him a Pulitzer Prize in 2010; since then, he’s written several novels, including Doomsday Equation and Dead on Arrival. His nonfiction titles include A Deadly Wandering, which was named one of 2014’s best books by the San Francisco Chronicle and Amazon.

Discover the wild world of the immune system

The author, Matt Richtel, put pen to paper when he witnessed a miracle. 

His dear friend Jason Greenstein, who’d been on the verge of succumbing to cancer, was cured. Thanks to a new drug that harnesses the powers of the immune system, he was able to beat the unbeatable

That’s when Richtel decided to write An Elegant Defense. The seemingly miraculous recovery of his friend had ignited his imagination. If we could tinker with the human immune system and tap into its awesome power – and with such amazing results! – then what disease couldn’t we conquer?

 In his book, Richtel went on to lay out the history of immunology – the branch of medicine dedicated to the immune system. And he told that history in an unconventional way, weaving it together with the personal stories of four people whose health conditions dovetail with advances in the field. 

Richtel’s lead and take a whirlwind tour of that history, and then we’ll focus on one of those stories – Jason’s, which has an important lesson to teach us about both the progress and the limits of our ability to direct and command our elegant defense.

1) The difference between a neutrophil and a dendritic cell

2) Which animals led to the discovery of the immune system

3) Why it’s dangerous when the immune system overreacts

KEY POINTS

1) Discover the wild world of the immune system

2) Life inside you is like a massive festival – and your immune system is in charge of ejecting dangerous gate-crashers

3) Three puzzling discoveries laid the foundation for the field of immunology

4) Dr. Jacques Miller discovered that the thymus is of great importance

5) Dr. Miller deduced that T. cells derive from the thymus

6) Confusing evidence led researchers to hypothesize that T cells weren’t the only lymphocytes

7) T cells and B cells are your body’s precision defenders

8) Susumo Tonegawa discovered how our bodies can detect an infinite array of antigens

9) There are two immune systems; combined, they determine how our body defends itself

10) Cells communicate using cytokines, which both encourage and discourage immune-system attacks

11) Jason Greenstein struggled with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer that attacks the immune system

12)   Jason beat his cancer but succumbed to attacks from his own immune system

Book Summary

The immune system must maintain a delicate balance. If it’s too aggressive, it can kill us; if it’s not aggressive enough, it leaves us vulnerable to malignant pathogens. The field of immunology has a rich and fascinating history, and its pioneers laid the foundation for the incredible immunotherapies that are being developed today. Still, though our knowledge of the immune system has increased exponentially over the last hundred years, we’re far from being able to control our elegant defense.

KEY TAKE AWAY

Don’t stress and get plenty of sleep!

When you’re stressed, your body produces adrenaline, a hormone that, among other stimulating effects, increases your heart rate and blood pressure. Long ago, when humankind’s main stressors were animal predators, this was a good thing: adrenaline makes you alert and ready to run. Nowadays, though, our stressors – such as work deadlines – usually aren’t life-threatening. But here’s the thing: adrenaline can be addictive. The author learned this firsthand. He got hooked on a high-stress work routine, burning the candle at both ends and riding the rush of stress-induced adrenaline. The consequences weren’t pleasant. This pattern disrupted his immune system’s fine balance, and he became severely depressed. He was able to achieve balance again by sleeping – the body shuts down its adrenaline-producing system when you sleep – and meditating. So if you’re struggling with stress, try to follow his lead.