Evolutionary Medicine

Terry R. McGuire, Professor, Dept. of Genetics, Rutgers University. Piscataway NJ 08854

Evolutionary Medicine focuses on many shared traits that leave all members of a species vulnerable to a disease. Humans are vulnerable to diseases because of evolutionary mismatches, coevolution with pathogens and parasites, evolutionary trade offs, and evolutionary constraints. This course will also look at traits that favor reproduction at the expense of health and defenses (e.g., pain, fever, nausea) which are not medical problems but responses shaped by natural selection.

There are many pressing problems of sickness and health that have some of their roots in evolutionary biology. These include so-called "Western diseases" (e.g., diabetes, obesity) and emerging infectious diseases (e..g, SARS, Ebola, avian flu). Evolutionary theory can provide a theoretical foundation for epidemiology and public health. It can unify research from many different disciplines and provide a framework for understanding disease from the perspective of evolutionary as well as proximate biology.

This course was designed to meet goals in the revised Core Curriculum within the school of Arts and Sciences (SAS) at Rutgers University. It also had to meet goals of the Department of Genetics and the Division of Life Sciences (DLS).

1. SAS Goals:

c. Analyze the relationship that science and technology have to a contemporary social issue.

g. Identify and critically assess ethical and societal issues in science.

For SAS, the course had to be taught at the Junior or senior level. The course met two goals of the more specialized curriculum of the Genetics department.

2. Genetics Department Goals

a. "Knowledge specific goals: Know the terms, concepts and theories in genetics."

B. "Integrate the material from multiple courses and research. That is, to think holistically and to see the whole as well as the parts"."

3. HHMI./AAMC

The DLS at Rutgers is beginning to modify the Life Sciences Curriculum according to the guidelines of the HHMI/AAMC report. This course meets, in part, competency E8

Competency E8: Demonstrate an understanding of how the organizing principle of evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of life on earth."

4. Specific Course goals

a. Students are expected to learn the terms, concepts and theories of evolutionary biology and to apply those terms, theories and concepts to issues in sickness and wellness.
b. Evolutionary ideas have implications not only for medicine but also for educational, legal and social issues. By the end of this course, starting with an evolutionary premise, students will be able to design or redesign social institutions such as schools, to maximize health.
C. By the end of this course a student will be able to suggest experiments and evidence that would support or not support a hypothesis in the area of evolutionary medicine.