In "Chromosome 10: Stress," the eleventh chapter of Genome, Ridley writes about a gene on chromosome 10 called CYP17. It is used to produce a hormone called cortisol, which Ridley claims is "virtually synonymous" (149) with stress. Ridley determines that "stress is caused by the outside world" (149) and "prepare[s] the body for 'fight or flight' in an emergency" (149). He then goes on to say that people tend to get sick after an exam (when they're stressed out). At the end of the chapter, he says that scientists are trying to find a good explanation for the link between stress and the immune system - "that stress inevitably depresses the immune system" (160). There are two explanations, one that says that "it is all a mistake" (159) and was purely accidental while the other one says that "modern life produces prolonged and unnatural stresses" (159). Whatever the true explanation is, this is an issue that still baffles scientists today.
No comments:
Post a Comment