Being susceptible to disease might not run in the family, say the authors of a study that suggests it's our environment that has the strongest influence over the immune system.
"A healthy human immune system continually adapts to its encounters with hostile pathogens, friendly gut microbes, nutritional components and more, overshadowing the influences of most heritable factors," says lead author Dr. Mark Davis, director of Stanford's Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection.
"A healthy human immune system continually adapts to its encounters with hostile pathogens, friendly gut microbes, nutritional components and more, overshadowing the influences of most heritable factors," says lead author Dr. Mark Davis, director of Stanford's Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection.