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Article: Sixth Sense: What Your Immune System Knows
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- April 19, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Lots of people talk about having a "sixth sense," a way of
perceiving the world other than by the standard channels of seeing,
smelling, tasting, hearing or touching. Now a growing cadre of
scientists is coming to believe that the body actually has such a
sense.
They're not talking about extrasensory perception or intuition,
though. Rather, the body's humble and hard-working immune system
deserves recognition as a sensory organ of sorts, these scientists
say.
According to this emerging view, the immune system is much more
than just a mechanism for fighting off microbial invaders. It is a
specialized network of bio-sensors designed to pick up information
from within and around the body and ...