[DrScientist]

Evolution happens both sides - you and the virus/bacteria trying to live off you.

One of the risks of an always on response, is if something evolves to evade it - you have nowhere to go.

It's why taking an antibiotic at breakfast everyday is not a good idea.

[6510]

The immune system will grow fat and lazy, it will forget how to manufacture anything and be of no use to the rest of the organism.

[eru]

> It's why taking an antibiotic at breakfast everyday is not a good idea.

Eh, the main downside in the short run is that you are killing your gut fauna.

> One of the risks of an always on response, is if something evolves to evade it - you have nowhere to go.

Evolution can't look into the future. (And eg bats are pretty much always on with their immune system.)

[DrScientist]

> Evolution can't look into the future.

Sure. But yesterdays mistakes can be punished today. ie all evolution happens in retrospect - a mutation haopens - the world tells you after the fact whether that was good or bad. Evolution is hindsight in action. In hindsight - taking antibiotics everyday might have been a bad idea.

> Eh, the main downside in the short run is that you are killing your gut fauna.

Sure - thus increasing your chances for being colonised by an unfriendly and antibiotic resistent bug - which may result in your death - which in hindsight was obviously a bad idea....