Evolution: Medicine’s most basic science

2020 ◽  
pp. 39-42
Author(s):  
Randolph M. Nesse ◽  
Richard Dawkins
Keyword(s):  
Population Genetics ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Basic Science ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
The Body ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Cost

The role of evolutionary biology as a basic science for medicine is expanding rapidly. Some evolutionary methods are already widely applied in medicine, such as population genetics and methods for analysing phylogenetic trees. Newer applications come from seeking evolutionary as well as proximate explanations for disease. Traditional medical research is restricted to proximate studies of the body’s mechanism, but separate evolutionary explanations are needed for why natural selection has left many aspects of the body vulnerable to disease. There are six main possibilities: mismatch, infection, constraints, trade-offs, reproduction at the cost of health, and adaptive defences. Like other basic sciences, evolutionary biology has limited direct clinical implications, but it provides essential research methods, encourages asking new questions that foster a deeper understanding of disease, and provides a framework that organizes the facts of medicine.

Evolution: medicine’s most basic science

2010 ◽  
pp. 12-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randolph M. Nesse ◽  
Richard Dawkins
Keyword(s):  
Population Genetics ◽  
Basic Science ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Evolutionary Methods

The role of evolutionary biology as a basic science for medicine has been expanding rapidly. Some evolutionary methods are already widely applied in medicine, such as population genetics and methods for analysing phylogenetic trees. Newer applications come from seeking evolutionary as well as proximate explanations for disease. ...

scholarly journals Biomechanical trade-offs bias rates of evolution in the feeding apparatus of fishes

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1732) ◽  
pp. 1287-1292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roi Holzman ◽  
David C. Collar ◽  
Samantha A. Price ◽  
C. Darrin Hulsey ◽  
Robert C. Thomson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Phenotypic Evolution ◽  
Genetic Constraints ◽  
Functional Systems ◽  
Rates Of Evolution ◽  
Trade Offs

Morphological diversification does not proceed evenly across the organism. Some body parts tend to evolve at higher rates than others, and these rate biases are often attributed to sexual and natural selection or to genetic constraints. We hypothesized that variation in the rates of morphological evolution among body parts could also be related to the performance consequences of the functional systems that make up the body. Specifically, we tested the widely held expectation that the rate of evolution for a trait is negatively correlated with the strength of biomechanical trade-offs to which it is exposed. We quantified the magnitude of trade-offs acting on the morphological components of three feeding-related functional systems in four radiations of teleost fishes. After accounting for differences in the rates of morphological evolution between radiations, we found that traits that contribute more to performance trade-offs tend to evolve more rapidly, contrary to the prediction. While ecological and genetic factors are known to have strong effects on rates of phenotypic evolution, this study highlights the role of the biomechanical architecture of functional systems in biasing the rates and direction of trait evolution.

Evo-devo: A New Evolutionary Paradigm?

2005 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 105-124
Author(s):  
Michael Ruse
Keyword(s):  
Population Genetics ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Newtonian Mechanics ◽  
Evo Devo ◽  
Morphogenetic Fields ◽  
Better Than

The homologies of process within morphogenetic fields provide some of the best evidence for evolution—just as skeletal and organ homologies did earlier. Thus, the evidence for evolution is better than ever. The role of natural selection in evolution, however, is seen to play less an important role. It is merely a filter for unsuccessful morphologies generated by development. Population genetics is destined to change if it is not to become as irrelevant to evolution as Newtonian mechanics is to contemporary physics. (Gilbert, Opitz, and Raff 1996, 368)

scholarly journals Depression Augments Activity-Related Pain in Women but not in Men with Chronic Musculoskeletal Conditions

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Adams ◽  
Pascal Thibault ◽  
Nicole Davidson ◽  
Maureen Simmonds ◽  
Ana Velly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pain Intensity ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
The Body ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Present Discussion ◽  
Musculoskeletal Conditions ◽  
Intense Activity

OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of the present study was to examine the role of sex as a moderator of the relation between depression and activity-related pain.METHODS: The study sample consisted of 83 participants (42 women, 41 men) with musculoskeletal conditions. Participants were asked to lift a series of 18 canisters that varied in weight (2.9 kg, 3.4 kg and 3.9 kg) and distance from the body. Participants were asked to rate their pain while they lifted each canister and estimate the weight of the canisters.RESULTS: Consistent with previous research, the relations among depression, pain intensity and disability were stronger for women than for men. ANOVA revealed that depression was associated with more intense activity-related pain in women only. For both women and men, the intensity of pain increased with each trial, although the weight of the objects lifted remained constant. Neither sex nor depression had an effect on participants’ weight estimates.CONCLUSIONS: The present discussion addresses the mechanisms through which depression may differentially affect pain in women and men. It also addresses the potential clinical implications of pain-augmenting effects of depression in women.

scholarly journals Focus on the Beauty of Body: The Mediation Role of Body Appreciation Between Perfectionism and Body-Related Shame and Body-Related Guilt

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhang Liang ◽  
Shen Lingting ◽  
Cai Ying ◽  
Liu Xiaoyan ◽  
Zhang Yan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
The Body ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Body Appreciation ◽  
Negative Body Image ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Shame And Guilt ◽  
The Relationship

Objectives: According to traditional views, perfectionists are prone to experience shame and guilt. As a relative part of negative body image, body appreciation reflects an appreciation attitude toward physical characteristics, functionality, and health, accepting and appreciating all parts and functions of the body, predicting body-related shame and guilt.Methods: Therefore, body appreciation was examined for its potential mediating role in the relationship between two dimensions of perfectionism (e.g., healthy perfectionism and unhealthy perfectionism) and body-related shame and body-related guilt among 514 females.Results: The results highlight that body appreciation partially mediated the relationship between perfectionism and body-related shame and body-related guilt. Implications for enhancing body appreciation among females between experiencing healthy or unhealthy perfectionism and body-related shame and body-related guilt feelings are discussed.Conclusions: These findings underscore the importance of considering body appreciation in addressing perfectionism dimensions and body-related shame and body-related guilt. Research and clinical implications are also addressed.

Conceptualizing the Cost of COVID Policy: The Role of Institutional Trade-Offs

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Geloso
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Short Article ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Institutional Trade ◽  
The Cost

Abstract In this short article, I summarize recent research in economic history that suggests long-run institutional trade-offs in public health that affect both health and economic outcomes. These trade-offs suggest that a long timespan is necessary to fully measure the consequences of heavy-handed public health interventions. This timespan means that those who have declared “victory” or “defeat” in the wake of COVID policy are premature. Modesty in terms of policy evaluation and prescription is still warranted.

Evolution and cancer

2019 ◽  
pp. 33-40
Author(s):  
Tom Donnem ◽  
Kingsley Micklem ◽  
Francesco Pezzella
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Genetic Disease ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Tumour Growth ◽  
Cellular Level ◽  
The Body ◽  
Evolutionary Medicine ◽  
Evolutionary Approach ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Evolution By Natural Selection

Evolution is the process by which living organisms change through time, and natural selection is the process which leads some organisms to thrive and others to die out. Evolutionary medicine tries to explain why traits leading to susceptibility to disease get maintained or even positively selected. Cancer, being a genetic disease, can be analysed as an example of evolution by natural selection. The observation that humans in developed societies have much higher rates of cancer can be analysed and explained by an evolutionary approach. At a cellular level, tumours are made up by a population of cells continuously growing and mutating while interacting with the microenvironment of the body. Thus, the mechanism of changes in individual tumours is the process of natural selection. Evolutionary biology is now increasingly used to better understand tumour growth and therefore to improve treatments.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE DESIGN PROCESS OF CLOTHING FOR PREGNANT WOMEN

2019 ◽  
pp. 360-368
Author(s):  
Masha Voznuk ◽  
Lyudmila Nazarenko ◽  
Galina Shvets ◽  
Svetlana Kuleshova ◽  
Olesya Ditkovska
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
The Body ◽  
Package Design ◽  
Color Palette ◽  
Properties Of Materials ◽  
Transformation Methods ◽  
The Cost

The article is devoted to the improvement of the design process of clothing for pregnant women on the basis of the concept of a systems approach. The role of clothing in this period acquires a special functional significance. The most important functions of clothing for pregnant women are to provide comfortable conditions for physiological and spiritual life. Significant influence on constructive-composite solution of clothing models is carried out by biosocial features. Functionality of clothing is realized on the basis of the choice of properties of materials, package design, constructive-composite and coloristic solution of models. The recommended color palette for pregnant women's clothes is formed taking into account the color type of appearance and personality type. The influence of changes in the size and shape of the body of women in the course of pregnancy progression on constructive-compositional solutions in clothing is investigated by constructing and analysing sweep of the body surface of women in different periods of pregnancy. The use of transformation methods in the design of clothing for pregnant women can significantly expand the range, enhance its versatility and functionality, extend the service life, reduce the cost of purchase.

Niche Construction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Laland
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
The Body ◽  
Biological Anthropology ◽  
Extended Evolutionary Synthesis ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
Niche Construction Theory ◽  
Ecological Inheritance

Niche construction is the process whereby organisms, through their activities and choices, modify their own and each other’s niches. Examples of niche construction include the building of nests, burrows, and mounds and alternation of physical and chemical conditions by animals, and the creation of shade, influencing of wind speed, and alternation of nutrient cycling by plants. Here the “niche” is construed as the set of natural selection pressures to which the population is exposed (discussed in Ecology). By transforming natural selection pressures, niche construction generates feedback in evolution, on a scale hitherto underestimated and in a manner that alters the evolutionary dynamic. Niche construction also plays a critical role in ecology, in which it supports ecosystem engineering and eco-evolutionary feedbacks and, in part, regulates the flow of energy and nutrients through ecosystems. Niche construction theory is the body of formal (e.g., population genetic, population ecology) mathematical theory that explores niche construction’s evolutionary and ecological ramifications. Many organisms construct developmental environments for their offspring or modify environmental states for other descendants, a process known as “ecological inheritance.” In recent years, this ecological inheritance has been widely recognized as a core component of extra-genetic inheritance, and it is central to attempts within evolutionary biology to broaden the concept of heredity beyond transmission genetics. The development of many organisms—and the recurrence of traits across generations—has been found to depend critically on the construction of developmental environments by ancestors. Historically, the study of niche construction has been contentious because theoretical and empirical findings from niche construction theory appear to challenge some orthodox accounts of evolution. Many researchers studying niche construction embrace an alternative perspective in which niche construction is regarded as a fundamental evolutionary process in its own right, as well as a major source of adaptation. This perspective is aligned intellectually with other progressive movements within evolutionary biology that are calling for an extended evolutionary synthesis. In addition to ecology and evolution, niche construction theory has had an impact on a variety of disciplines, including archaeology, biological anthropology, conservation biology, developmental biology, earth sciences, and philosophy of biology.

Evo-devo: A New Evolutionary Paradigm?

2005 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 8-9
Author(s):  
Michael Ruse
Keyword(s):  
Population Genetics ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Newtonian Mechanics ◽  
Evo Devo ◽  
Morphogenetic Fields ◽  
Better Than

The homologies of process within morphogenetic fields provide some of the best evidence for evolution—just as skeletal and organ homologies did earlier. Thus, the evidence for evolution is better than ever. The role of natural selection in evolution, how–ever, is seen to play less an important role. It is merely a filter for unsuccessful morphologies generated by development. Population genetics is destined to change if it is not to become as irrelevant to evolution as Newtonian mechanics is to contempo–rary physics. (Gilbert, Opitz, and Raff 1996, 368)

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