To serve and to protect: that is the charge to our immune system. Equipped with an impressive array of genetic strategies and chemical and cellular weapons, it does just that - most of the time. Allergy, cancer, organ transplantation, AIDS, vaccines - these too are the province of our immune systems. In In Defense of Self, William Clark invites you on a whirlwind tour of your immune system. Along the way, he introduces some of most important medical advances and challenges of the past hundred years.
Part I: How The Immune System Works Chapter 1: What Is An Immune System? Chapter 2: Antibodies Chapter 3: How Do Antibodies Work? Chapter 4: T Cells: The Second Arm of Adaptive Immunity Part II: The Immune System in Health and Disease Chapter 5: The Immune Response to Infectious Disease: All Out War! Chapter 6: When the Immune System is the Problem, and Not the Solution Chapter 7: Vaccines: How They Work, Why Sometimes They Don't, And What We Can Do About It Chapter 8: When the Walls Come Tumbling Down: AIDS Chapter 9: When the Walls Come Tumbling Down: Primary Immune Deficiencies Chapter10: When the Immune System is the Problem, and Not the Solution Section II: Hypersensitivity and Allergy Chapter 11: The Immune System and Cancer Chapter 12: Autoimmunity Chapter 13: Organ Transplantation Chapter 14: First Defense: The Immune System and Bioterrorism
