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Cells at Work!, Vol. 1 by Akane Shimizu

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I don't usually talk about myself in a book review but it's relevant here. I'm a doctor who also teaches anatomy and physiology and this is the perfect manga for science geeks (which is why it got tagged science non fiction because it is pretty damned dead on in its descriptions of the cells). A manga that teaches biology and is engaging and endearing as it does so? Hell yes, count me in (and I'm going to suggest the students have a gander)

It is exactly as the title suggests, a story about cells working in the body. There are two major point of view cells, a Red Blood Cell (female) and a White Blood Cell (a male neutrophil). The story follows them as she delivers 'packages' for the body (i.e. oxygen and carbon dioxide) and as he wanders the body looking for invaders to fight.

He gets all sorts of things to fight, the flu, pollen, staph aureus, pseudomonas and more. Not only do we get that we are treated to all the other cells like the mast cells pumping out histamine, Killer T-cells being terrifying, Naive T-cells learning their jobs and the utterly adorable Platelets. Each cell gets a side bar introduction that is accurate as heck and even brings in lesser known stuff like L-Selectin being how neutrophils cling to torn tissues.

I am thrilled to have finally gotten the chance to read this. I'm looking forward gleefully to more.



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