Your defenses against the coronavirus

This book is intended as a brief introduction to the fascinating processes by which the immune system keeps microorganisms at bay. The book is structured as a story in which the organism is under attack. To defend itself, it sets up different cellular actors and molecular mechanisms, which we are introducing as history develops. In this way, the understanding of the reasons for the various defense strategies that the immune system puts in place is facilitated. It also addresses the mechanisms of action of vaccines and the different types of vaccines that are known, as well as some of fascinating reasons why microorganisms can escape from the the action of the immune system and vaccines can be ineffective. The knowledge gained from reading the first seven chapters are applied in the last one to analyze why the new SARS-CoV-2 virus, causing COVID-19 disease, can behave in such a different way depending on how well or how badly the defense mechanisms that each person has, according to the state of health, the age or genetic background, are put into effect. Reading this book will arm us better to understand the causes of pandemics and the reasons why some overcome infectious diseases and others do not.

Auteur

Jorge Laborda, Ph.D., is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Among his scientific contributions, it is worth mentioning the discoveries that reveal the existence of two genes regulating the activity of Notch receptors, one of the most important for the control of cell growth and differentiation and for the functioning of the immune system. During his work at the FDA, from 1991 to 1999, he was responsible for the evaluation of numerous projects on new anticancer therapies based on monoclonal antibodies. From November 2003 to May 2004, he was appointed as a Leading National Expert at the European Commission, where he worked on the management and promotion of the area of Synthetic Biology. In April 2004, he was elected Dean of the UCLM School of Medicine. From June 2007 to June 2011, he held the position of Councilor for Science, Technology and Consumer Affairs at Albacete City Council. Among his contributions in that capacity is the creation of the Promenade of the Planets, a scale reproduction of the Solar System: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paseo_de_los_Planetas. Among the extensive contributions in the area of scientific popularization he was PI of eight popularization projects financed by the FECYT (Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology) for the popularization of the scientific activities of the UCLM through the program Talking to Scientists (http://cienciaes.com/entrevistas/). He has authored twenty-two books on scientific subjects. Thirteen of these correspond to compilations of the more than one thousand popular science articles published in the newspaper La Tribuna de Albacete, newspapers of the Promecal group, and El País, and available in the blog Quilo de Ciencia (https://jorlab.blogspot.com). He has participated numerous times as a popularizer in Vanguardia de la Ciencia and Hablando con Científicos radio broadcast and podcasts programs. It also produces the podcast Quilo de Ciencia. He has also been the initiator and director of the podcast Ciencia Fresca. Finally, he was one of the initial promoters of the Spanish Science in the Parliament initiative, in which he participated as one of the six national experts to develop it.

Contenu

Introduction, Defense strategies, Slowing down the initial impulse, B lymphocyte receptor diversity, Identity masks, Vaccines and our health, Evasion or death, COVID-19 and your immune system, Bibliography,