the subject of this week’s forum is Natural Selection and Evolution. These conce
ID: 62489 • Letter: T
Question
the subject of this week’s forum is Natural Selection and Evolution. These concepts are central to how the vast majority of biologists understand and interpret the natural world. By using the theory of Natural Selection, biologists have made incredible technological advances in agriculture and medicine. One of the goals of this class to increase your awareness of how basic principles of biology affects your life every day. In this weeks post I would like you to research an area of medicine that our understanding of evolution and natural selection dramatically increased the understanding and treatment of a disease, pathogen (virus or bacterial) or genetic condition. Your post should provide background of the topic, describe how an understanding of the evolution and natural selection has led to greater understanding of the health condition as well as the treatments used to counteract it. You should also describe if this has improved the outcomes for individuals with your chosen condition and how it might shape the future research in this area. If you have trouble finding a specific topic that you are interested in or a classmate has already posted on the topic you were interested in, you could explore other health related topics are also closely connected to our understanding of evolution and natural selection or Darwinian medicine. For example, the debate about the need for children’s vaccinations is still a topic that many parents don’t agree with, and the arguments both sides (for and against) use Darwinian medicine to support their claims. Which side has more validity? Another example is the “hygiene hypothesis” which states that our obsession with cleanliness has led to a dramatic increase in allergies world wide because we are not being exposed to the pathogens that strengthen our immune system. Some websites to get you started: http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/medicine_01 (Links to an external site.) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/evolution-in-medicine/ (Links to an external site.) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/10/4/l_104_07.html (Links to an external site.) Remember if a classmate posts on the same topic you are interested in make sure you choose a different angle to explore or choose another topic.
Explanation / Answer
I will take hygiene hypothesis.
A very high consciousness has increased among people for hygiene. Previously it was not so. Whenever a micro-organism attacks the human body, the body's innate immunity tries to fight this micro-organism by producing antibodies. The antibodies kill these antigens (micro-organisms) and make the body free of disease. Not only this, the body stores some antibodies as memory cells. These memory cells have help combat the infection if this same micro-organism attacks the body again. This provides long term immunity to the body.
Not only this, a large amount of microbial flora resides on the body surface in symbiotic association. These micro-organisms secrete certain acidic/basic substances which protect the body from heat, sun, high temperature, dust and even pollen allergy.
Now, what will happen if all these micro-organisms are not allowed to enter/reside in the body?
Obviously this will reduce the capacity of immune system. Large number of allergic disease are being diagnosed nowadays. And the main reason behind these is excess hygiene.
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