BIO220H1 Lecture 7: Intro to Evolutionary Medicine and the evolution of virulence
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Introduction to evolutionary medicine and the evolution of virulence: what is evolutionary medicine, three reasons for our vulnerability to disease, virulence evolution. Definition: application of evolutionary principles to the problems of health. Approach: asks why (ultimate) rather than how (proximate) questions. Diseases need both proximate explanations of underlying mechanisms as well as ultimate explanations of why any vulnerabilities exist. Three reasons why we are vulnerable to disease: tradeoffs. Structures and systems must balance conflicting demands e. g dna repair pro: longevity con: fecundity (cost, fewer resources) e. g immune defense pro: targets pathogens con: might target itself: mismatch with current environments. Our environment has changed at a rate that exceeds our rate of evolution: pathogen evolution. Pathogens evolve faster than we do. (variation for selection to add on) The additional mortality rate that a pathogen imposes on an infected individual (the host) (high virulence high mortality)
