- A Evolutionary theory is sometimes considered to hold no meaningful relevance to human disease, despite mismatch diseases, antibiotic resistance, and cancer as somatic evolution being explained through evolutionary frameworks
- B Evolutionary medicine applies evolutionary theory to understand mismatch diseases like obesity and Type 2 diabetes, antibiotic resistance, cancer as somatic evolution, and senescence patterns
- C Evolutionary medicine is sometimes thought to largely reject natural selection as a useful framework, when it relies centrally on natural selection to explain mismatch diseases and pathogen trade-offs
- D Human evolution is sometimes considered to have been largely complete since Homo sapiens first appeared, when human populations continue to undergo measurable ongoing natural selection today
Correct answer: B. Evolutionary medicine applies evolutionary theory to understand mismatch diseases like obesity and Type 2 diabetes, antibiotic resistance, cancer as somatic evolution, and senescence patterns
Explanation: Evolutionary medicine key insights: (1) Mismatch diseases: evolved for ancestral environment (high activity, low-calorie diet) but now sedentary with calorie excess → obesity, T2DM, CVD; (2) Cancer = somatic Darwinian evolution (clonal selection of mutations); (3) Antibiotic resistance = rapid evolution in bacteria; (4) Virulence-transmission tradeoffs (highly virulent pathogens may evolve reduced virulence if transmission requires live host); (5) Fever is adaptive (limits pathogen growth); (6) Senescence: body maintained only until reproductive age (disposable soma).
Concept context
Origin of life, Darwin's theory, natural selection, speciation, and evidence for evolution.