The subject of this weekâs forum is Natural Selection andEvolution. These concepts are central to how the vast majority ofbiologists understand and interpret the natural world. By using thetheory of Natural Selection, biologists have made incredibletechnological advances in agriculture and medicine. One of thegoals of this class to increase your awareness of how basicprinciples of biology affects your life every day.
In this weeks post I would like you to research an area ofmedicine that our understanding of evolution and natural selectiondramatically increased the understanding and treatment of adisease, pathogen (virus or bacterial) or genetic condition. Yourpost should provide background of the topic, describe how anunderstanding of the evolution and natural selection has led togreater understanding of the health condition as well as thetreatments used to counteract it. You should also describe if thishas improved the outcomes for individuals with your chosencondition and how it might shape the future research in thisarea.
If you have trouble finding a specific topic that you areinterested in or a classmate has already posted on the topic youwere interested in, you could explore other health related topicsare also closely connected to our understanding of evolution andnatural selection or Darwinian medicine. For example, the debateabout the need for childrenâs vaccinations is still a topic thatmany parents donât agree with, and the arguments both sides (forand against) use Darwinian medicine to support their claims. Whichside has more validity? Another example is the âhygiene hypothesisâwhich states that our obsession with cleanliness has led to adramatic increase in allergies world wide because we are not beingexposed to the pathogens that strengthen our immunesystem.
Some websites to get you started:
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/medicine_01
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/evolution-in-medicine/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/10/4/l_104_07.html
Remember if a classmate posts on the same topic you areinterested in make sure you choose a different angle to explore orchoose another topic.
