A sprawling, funny essay argues nearly every "design flaw" in the human body is evolution deliberately avoiding cancer, not sloppy engineering
Fragile kidneys, no limb regrowth, shortening telomeres, menopause: the piece argues each is evolution paying a "fragility tax" to avoid a worse "cancer tax," using the liver's unusual regenerative power — and the small intestine's even cleverer trick of constantly shedding its surface cells before they can mutate into something dangerous — as the exceptions that prove the rule.