Darwin's Reach 21st Century Applications of Evolutionary Biology

About this book

The application of evolutionary biology addresses a wide range of practical problems in medicine, agriculture, the environment, and society. Such cutting-edge applications are emerging due to recent advances in DNA sequencing, new gene-editing tools, and computational methods. Darwin's Reach is about applied evolution – the application of the principles of and information about evolutionary biology to diverse practical matters. Although applied evolution has existed, unrecognized, for a very long time, today's version has a much wider scope. Evolutionary medicine has formed into its own discipline. Evolutionary approaches have long been employed in agriculture and in conservation biology. But Darwin's reach now extends beyond just these three fields. It now also includes forensic biology and the law. Ideas from evolutionary biology can be used to inform policy regarding foreign affairs and national security. Applied evolution is not only interdisciplinary but also multidisciplinary. Consequently, this book is for experts in one field who are interested in expanding their evolutionary horizons. It is also for students, at the undergraduate and graduate levels. One of the public relations challenges faced by evolutionary biology is that most people do not see it being all that relevant to their daily lives. Even many who accept evolution do not grasp how far Darwin's reach extends. This book will change that perception.

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction

HEALTH
Chapter 1: Paging Dr. Darwin
Chapter 2: Going Viral
Chapter 3: Vectors of Disease
Chapter 4: Mismatch: Are We Trapped by Our Past
Chapter 5: From Genetic Mapping to Personalized Medicine
Chapter 6: Cancer: Darwin meets the Emperor of All Maladies
Chapter 7: Human Life History

FOOD
Chapter 8: Darwin at the Farm
Chapter 9: Managing Agriculture
Chapter 10: Buccaneers of Buzz: Bees and Pollination

ENVIRONMENT
Chapter 11: The Biodiversity Crisis
Chapter 12: Challenges in the Ocean
Chapter 13: Challenges in the City
Chapter 14: Challenges from Invasive Species

SOCIETY
Chapter 15: The sequence on the Stand
Chapter 16: Darwinian Security
Chapter 17: Human Genetic Diversity and the Non-existence of Biological Races

Epilogue: Lessons Learned and Lamentable Lacunae
Bibliography

Customer Reviews

Biography

Norman Johnson is an evolutionary geneticist, who received his B. S. from William and Mary (1987) and a PhD from the University of Rochester (1992). His doctoral thesis was on the genetics of hybrid sterility between different species of Drosophila. He was a postdoctoral fellow with Michael Wade on the quantitative genetics of hybrid traits between species of Tribolium flour beetles at the University of Chicago. Johnson teaches classes in genetics and/or evolution. Most of his research has been on the genetics and evolution of why hybrids between species are often sterile or inviable. Other research interests include the evolution of sex chromosomes, the evolution of extremely large dietary niches in insects, and the interplay between the relaxation of selection and the loss of traits. He wrote Darwinian Detectives: Revealing the Natural History of Genes and Genomes, published in 2007. Johnson was the lead organizer for a working group at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (in Durham, NC) on Communicating the Relevance of Human Evolution. One of the outcomes was a paper for American Biology Teacher that addresses the question, “if humans evolved from chimps, why are there still chimps?” Johnson was the section editor for the Applied Evolution section of the Encyclopedia of Evolution. He wrote three of the entries (overview of evolutionary medicine and cancer, pest management, and evolution and breeding) and commissioned a dozen other entries in subjects ranging from evolution and climate change response to evolutionary computation to evolution and national security.