Book Review: “An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System

Richtel’s bedrock is his unabashed romance with the immune system, which he affectionately nicknames “an elegant defense,” for its complex ability to ward off any number of would-be invaders that could compromise our health. “It is an ever-vigilant, omnipresent peacekeeping force in the Festival of Life,” he says early on in the book. Like a kid spinning a superhero tale, Richtel employs delightfully effusive prose, particularly as he relates such intricacies as the science of inflammation and the roles of the immune system’s most advanced fighters, T cells and B cells, which Richtel notes are two of the most effective biological structures in the world.

“Once a T cell or B cell finds its evil mate, its infection doppelgänger, it can set in motion a powerful defense, following hard on the innate reaction, bringing in defenders trained specifically to bounce out this particular antigen. Explosions! Implosions! Toxic gas attacks! Good guys eating bad guys!”