Randolph Nesse, Society and health, Tue 7 July
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Height: 240,
Duration: 31 mins 18 secs,
File size: 60.09 MB,
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| Created: | 2009-10-15 14:37 |
|---|---|
| Collection: | Darwin Festival 2009 |
| Publisher: | University of Cambridge |
| Copyright: | University of Cambridge, Darwin Festival 2009 |
| Language: | en (English) |
| Archive in DSpace: | No |
| Distribution: | World |
| Description: | Darwinian medicine
Professor Randolph Nesse (University of Michigan, USA) Summary: At least three kinds of evolutionary applications are transforming medicine and public health. First are well-established population genetic and phylogenetic evolutionary methods that are now being used on new genetic data. Second are attempts to address evolutionary questions about why natural selection left our bodies vulnerable. Some of the most powerful applications are in infectious disease, not just antibiotic resistance but evolutionary models that show how vaccines can shape pathogens to make them worse killers. Thirdly, Darwin’s discovery means that our fundamental metaphor for the body has been incorrect. Thinking about the body as if it is a machine designed by an engineer conceals the reality of a body shaped by natural selection, vastly better than any machine can be in many respects, but hopelessly flawed in other ways that no engineer would tolerate for a minute. These insights are changing medical research and they will improve human health. |
| Keywords: |
Darwin Randolph Nesse medicine evolution vaccines pathogens why we get six Darwinian medicine selection pain mechanisms fever anxiety low mood medicine |
| Abstract: | Biography: Randolph M Nesse MD is Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, where he directs the Evolution and Human Adaptation Program. He collaborated with George Williams to write several seminal works on Darwinian medicine, including Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine. His early research on the neuroendocrinology of anxiety has evolved into a focus on how selection shapes mechanisms that regulate defences such as pain, fever, anxiety and low mood. He is devoted to encouraging doctors and researchers to apply evolutionary insights in diverse areas of medicine and to helping organize the growing ‘evolution and medicine’ community via The Evolution & Medicine Review (http://evmedreview.com). His website is at http://nesse.us |