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The Wild Life of Our Bodies
Predators, Parasites, and Partners That Shape Who We Are Today
By: Rob Dunn
eBook | 17 January 2024
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"Extraordinary. . . . takes the reader into the overlap of medicine, ecology, and evolutionary biology to reveal an important domain of the human condition." —Edward O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Anthill and The Future of Life
We evolved in a wilderness of parasites, mutualists, and pathogens, but we no longer see ourselves as being part of nature. In the name of progress and clean living, we scrub much of nature off our bodies and try to remove whole kinds of life—parasites, bacteria, mutualists, and predators—to allow ourselves to live free of wild danger. Nature, in this new world, is the landscape outside, a kind of living painting that is pleasant to contemplate but nice to have escaped.
The truth, though, according to biologist Rob Dunn, is that while "clean living" has benefited us in some ways, it has also made us sicker in others. As Dunn reveals, our modern disconnect from the web of life has resulted in unprecedented effects that immunologists, evolutionary biologists, psychologists, and other scientists are only beginning to understand. Diabetes, autism, allergies, many anxiety disorders, autoimmune diseases, and even tooth, jaw, and vision problems are increasingly plaguing bodies that have been removed from the ecological context in which they existed for millennia.
In this eye-opening book, Dunn considers the crossroads at which we find ourselves. Through the stories of visionaries, Dunn argues that we can create a richer nature, one in which we choose to surround ourselves with species that benefit us, not just those that, despite us, survive.
"A pleasure to read." —Boston Globe
"[Dunn's] sure use of language, scientific research, and humor . . . keep the reader highly engaged." —New York Journal of Books
"Not merely interesting but gripping." —Booklist, starred review
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ISBN: 9780062092274
ISBN-10: 0062092278
Published: 17th January 2024
Format: ePUB
Language: English
Number of Pages: 304
Audience: General Adult
Publisher: HarperCollins
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This product is categorised by
- Non-FictionMedicineOther Branches of MedicinePathologyMedical Microbiology & Virology
- Non-FictionMedicinePre-Clinical Medicine & Basic SciencesPhysiology
- Non-FictionMedicineOther Branches of MedicinePathologyMedical Parasitology
- Non-FictionEarth Sciences, Geography, Environment, PlanningThe EnvironmentApplied Ecology
- Non-FictionScienceScience in General
- Non-FictionScienceBiology, Life SciencesLife Sciences in GeneralEcological Science
- Non-FictionScienceBiology, Life SciencesLife Sciences in GeneralEvolution
- Non-FictionScienceBiology, Life SciencesHuman Biology
- Non-FictionScienceBiology, Life SciencesMicrobiology excluding Medical
- Non-FictionScienceBiology, Life SciencesDevelopmental Biology
- Non-FictionScienceBiology, Life SciencesMolecular Biology
- Non-FictionScienceBiology, Life SciencesCellular Biology
- Non-FictionScienceBiology, Life SciencesHydrobiologyMarine Biology