Re:Our Immune System
by DoreenMichele on Saturday November 21, 2020 @12:01PM
(#25170835)
Viruses cannot reproduce independently, they need our help. And our immune system makes this very hard, as aptly explained in this excellent xkcd comic:
I feel like that really is a terrible take on what that comic shows. Based on those two lines, I was expecting the comic to be about how viruses take over a cell and use its own internal structures to turn it into a virus manufacturing plant until it finally explodes and dies, releasing these invaders into the system.
It doesn't show that and it also doesn't really show much about the immune system. It mostly talks about how hand washing and social isolation are effective barriers to the spread of disease, which is something I'm a big believer in but has nothing to do with how our immune system works.
Also also (a thing I said some hours ago elsewhere on HN):
... "the immune system" doesn't really mean a specific set of organs like "the circulatory system" or "the digestive system" means a specific set of organs. It's just kind of a catch phrase for "how the body protects itself" and it's not really that well understood or explained exactly that happens.
I feel like that really is a terrible take on what that comic shows. Based on those two lines, I was expecting the comic to be about how viruses take over a cell and use its own internal structures to turn it into a virus manufacturing plant until it finally explodes and dies, releasing these invaders into the system.
It doesn't show that and it also doesn't really show much about the immune system. It mostly talks about how hand washing and social isolation are effective barriers to the spread of disease, which is something I'm a big believer in but has nothing to do with how our immune system works.
Also also (a thing I said some hours ago elsewhere on HN):
... "the immune system" doesn't really mean a specific set of organs like "the circulatory system" or "the digestive system" means a specific set of organs. It's just kind of a catch phrase for "how the body protects itself" and it's not really that well understood or explained exactly that happens.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25167263