Daniel M Davis: ‘Unbelievable things will come from biological advances’

The immunology professor on the personal data which will shape our future and how the pandemic has fired everyone's interest in the immune system

Daniel M Davis is a professor of immunology at the University of Manchester. He has published over 130 academic papers and two lauded popular science books, The Compatibility Gene and The Beautiful Cure. His third, The Secret Body, describes the forthcoming revolution in human health.

As an immunologist, when you overhear conversations about antibodies or T-cells in the pub (when regulations permit), is it pleasing to you that these aspects of science have entered the public domain?
Many terrible things have happened because of this pandemic, but the science of viruses and infections has come right to the foreground. As an immunologist I always thought my subject was quite important, but right now it's become blatantly clear to everyone how critical it is to understand how the immune system works and how viruses evolve, and how infections spread between people. Without that deep understanding there wouldn't have been progress in creating vaccines and many, many, many more people would have died.