Get under your skin

OUR BIRTHDAY suit is in many ways the, original “amazing technicolour dreamcoat”. Far more versatile than any clothing yet devised, skin keeps out the rain and the germs, protects us from the sun and helps to keep our bodies at the right temperature. What’s more, it monitors its own state of repair with pain receptors that alert us to any burns or cuts, and then makes good any damage. And it has its own police force of immune cells, which keep watch for intruders and rogue cells. Skin is also a biochemical factory, churning out vitamin D and hormones. It even sprouts decorative hair and useful fingernails, and exudes odours that dogs…