This is just a press release, so a general overview. It's not that deep. It's sort of a pet peeve of mine that the immune system doesn't mean what most people

This is just a press release, so a general overview. It's not that deep. It's sort of a pet peeve of mine that the immune system doesn't mean what most people seem to think it means.* However, it's already been established that certain mutations -- even deadly mutations -- are more common due to improving odds of survival against specific infections that swept specific regions historically. So, "survival of the fittest" doesn't mean what a lot of people think it means. It's rooted in a winnowing process where those who don't die get to pass on their genes. That's all it means. Cystic fibrosis is a predominantly Caucasian genetic disorder. Studies suggest this is so because, like Sickle Cell protects against malaria, it protects against tuberculosis and I think one other disease but I'm not remembering which one nor readily finding a reference. Cystic fibrosis carriership and tuberculosis: hints toward an evolutionary selective advantage based on data from the Brazilian territory https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28499359/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28499359/ Cystic fibrosis gene protects against tuberculosis https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10013-cystic-fibrosis-gene-protects-against-tuberculosis/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10013-cystic-fibrosis... So this is already fairly well established. Cystic fibrosis is an inflammatory condition, which fits with their observations. ---- * ..."the immune system" doesn't really mean a specific set of organs like "the circulatory system" or "the digestive system" means a specific set of organs. It's just kind of a catch phrase for "how the body protects itself" and it's not really that well understood or explained exactly that happens. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25167263 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25167263