Science Is Looking Inward for New Fixes to What Ails Us
EVER SINCE A SAVANNA DWELLER FIRST SLAPPED MUD on a wound to ward off flies—and infection—our frail human bodies have relied on creative intervention to survive. Science has since come up with all manner of potions and procedures (from aspirin to organ transplants to bionic knees) to keep us from falling to pieces. But it turns out the body might be its own best pharmacy; each one of us possesses internal stores of life-extending remediation. Scientists are now learning to access those once locked and guarded inner warehouses to nudge us toward durability.
Witness the frontier of using the body to fix itself. From supercharging our immune systems to bolstering protective microbes in our guts to tweaking our genes, medical research is now enhancing our own defenses and self repair mechanisms. And not just in terms of immediate threats but future ones too—in some cases protecting generations down the line.
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