ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to Mere Whaanga, who provided great wisdom and advice on the cultural aspects of this story, and to Dr. Roger Booth, associate professor of immunology and health psychology at the University of Auckland, whose vivid descriptions of the immune system at work provided the basis for much of the science in this book and made a technical and complex subject highly entertaining. Thanks also to Creative New Zealand for their generous funding, which allowed me time to work on this book.