tailieunhanh - The great opportunity: Evolutionary applications to medicine and public health

Other areas, such as infec- tious disease and aging research, illustrate the dramatic recent progress made possible by evolutionary insights. In still other areas, such as epidemiology, psychiatry, and understanding the regulation of bodily defenses, applying evo- lutionary principles remains an open opportunity. In addition to the utility of specific applications, an evolutionary perspective fundamentally challenges the prevalent but fundamentally incorrect metaphor of the body as a machine designed by an engineer. Bodies are vulnerable to disease – and remarkably resilient – precisely because they are not machines built from a plan. They are, instead, bundles of compromises shaped by natural selection in small incre- ments to maximize reproduction, not. | Evolutionary Applications ISSN 1752-4563 PERSPECTIVE The great opportunity Evolutionary applications to medicine and public health Randolph M. Nesse1 and Stephen C. Stearns2 1 The University of Michigan 2 Yale University Keywords Darwinian disease evolution medicine public health. Correspondence Randolph M. Nesse The University of Michigan. Tel. 1 734 764 6593 fax 1 734 647 3652 e-mail nesse@ Received 4 October 2007 Accepted 27 November 2007 doi Abstract Evolutionary biology is an essential basic science for medicine but few doctors and medical researchers are familiar with its most relevant principles. Most medical schools have geneticists who understand evolution but few have even one evolutionary biologist to suggest other possible applications. The canyon between evolutionary biology and medicine is wide. The question is whether they offer each other enough to make bridge building worthwhile. What benefits could be expected if evolution were brought fully to bear on the problems of medicine How would studying medical problems advance evolutionary research Do doctors need to learn evolution or is it valuable mainly for researchers What practical steps will promote the application of evolutionary biology in the areas of medicine where it offers the most To address these questions we review current and potential applications of evolutionary biology to medicine and public health. Some evolutionary technologies such as population genetics serial transfer production of live vaccines and phylogenetic analysis have been widely applied. Other areas such as infectious disease and aging research illustrate the dramatic recent progress made possible by evolutionary insights. In still other areas such as epidemiology psychiatry and understanding the regulation of bodily defenses applying evolutionary principles remains an open opportunity. In addition to the utility of specific applications an evolutionary perspective fundamentally