Fazendo da biologia evolutiva uma ciência básica para a medicina

Making evolutionary biology a basic science for medicine

Randolph M. Nessea,1, Carl T. Bergstromb, Peter T. Ellisonc, Jeffrey S. Flierd, Peter Gluckmane, Diddahally R. Govindarajuf, Dietrich Niethammerg, Gilbert S. Omennh, Robert L. Perlmani, Mark D. Schwartzj, Mark G. Thomask, Stephen C. Stearnsl and David Vallem

+ Author Affiliations

aDepartments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Michigan, Room 3018, East Hall, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104;

bDepartment of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1800;

cDepartment of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138;

dOffice of the Dean, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115;

eCentre for Human Evolution, Adaptation, and Disease Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand;

fDepartment of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, 72 East Concord Street, Boston, MA 02118;

gDepartment of Hematology, Children's University Hospital, 72076 Tübingen, Germany;

hCenter for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics and Departments of Internal Medicine, Human Genetics, and Public Health, University of Michigan, Room 2017F, Palmer Commons, 100 Washtenaw Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109;

iDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637;

jDivision of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine and VA New York Harbor Healthcare System, 423 East 23rd Street, Suite 15N, New York, NY 10010;

kResearch Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom;

lDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, P.O. Box 208106, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06520-8106; and

mMcKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 519 BRB, 733 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205

Edited by Daniel L. Hartl, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and approved September 29, 2009 (received for review August 2, 2009)

Abstract

New applications of evolutionary biology in medicine are being discovered at an accelerating rate, but few physicians have sufficient educational background to use them fully. This article summarizes suggestions from several groups that have considered how evolutionary biology can be useful in medicine, what physicians should learn about it, and when and how they should learn it. Our general conclusion is that evolutionary biology is a crucial basic science for medicine. In addition to looking at established evolutionary methods and topics, such as population genetics and pathogen evolution, we highlight questions about why natural selection leaves bodies vulnerable to disease. Knowledge about evolution provides physicians with an integrative framework that links otherwise disparate bits of knowledge. It replaces the prevalent view of bodies as machines with a biological view of bodies shaped by evolutionary processes. Like other basic sciences, evolutionary biology needs to be taught both before and during medical school. Most introductory biology courses are insufficient to establish competency in evolutionary biology. Premedical students need evolution courses, possibly ones that emphasize medically relevant aspects. In medical school, evolutionary biology should be taught as one of the basic medical sciences. This will require a course that reviews basic principles and specific medical applications, followed by an integrated presentation of evolutionary aspects that apply to each disease and organ system. Evolutionary biology is not just another topic vying for inclusion in the curriculum; it is an essential foundation for a biological understanding of health and disease.

curriculum Darwinian education evolution health

Footnotes

1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nesse@umich.edu

Author contributions: R.M.N., C.T.B., P.T.E., D.R.G., D.N., R.L.P., M.G.T., S.C.S., and D.V. designed research; R.M.N., C.T.B., P.T.E., P.G., D.R.G., D.N., G.S.O., R.L.P., M.D.S., M.G.T., S.C.S., and D.V. performed research; R.M.N. analyzed data; and R.M.N., C.T.B., P.T.E., J.S.F., P.G., D.R.G., D.N., G.S.O., R.L.P., M.D.S., M.G.T., S.C.S., and D.V. wrote the paper.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

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PDF gratuito do artigo aqui.

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NOTA IMPERTINENTE DESTE BLOGGER:

Eu sou cético localizado de algumas teses de Darwin - a macroevolução e a capacidade criativa da seleção natural explicar toda a complexidade e diversidade de vida. Quando eu li este artigo, perguntei: Ué, mas a evolução não é o fundamento das ciências da vida? Por que essa agora de promover a evolução na medicina? Ninguém leva Darwin a sério na medicina?

Eu não sei como que a teoria da evolução através da seleção natural de Darwin (e de Wallace também) irá contribuir para o avanço da medicina. Alguém me convença, mas, parafraseando o mantra dobzhanskyano - nada em medicina faz sentido a não ser à luz da evolução, parece deixar muito a desejar.

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Para EL, um amigo médico, cético das ideias transformistas de Darwin.