The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. These days it can feel like anyone can be allergic to anything– with sensitivities ranging from common allergies to certain foods and animals to more unusual things, like semen or the chemicals used to treat leather. But is that true–ARE we becoming more allergic to things? What IS an allergy anyway and what are things that simply mimic an allergic reaction? Can you have a temporary allergy, and do we ever develop them later in life? In this episode, Dr. Jen explores theories of how allergies evolved and shares how to get tested – legitimately – to see if you really have one. For the full text transcript visit: https://go.ted.com/BSTscript13 The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz.... For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com.