Physicians and scientists are increasingly recognising the importance of an evolutionary perspective in studying the aetiology, prevention, and treatment of human disease. The increasing prominence of genetics in medicine is further adding to the interest in evolutionary medicine. Evolution and Medicine clearly lays out the principles of evolutionary medicine in a way that will appeal to clinicians, medical students, and biomedical research scientists. These principles include variation and selection, the genetic basis of evolutionary change, life history theory and the evolutionary biology of aging, developmental plasticity, host-pathogen coevolution, and the effects of environmental change (which, for humans, is largely due to man-made, cultural change). The book intersperses presentations of evolutionary concepts with discussions of diseases that illustrate the application of these concepts, and clearly show the relevance of evolutionary biology to medical education, research, and practice. This accessible text is written for physicians, biomedical scientists, and both premedical and medical students. It is also ideally placed to cater for an anticipated expansion in seminars and in undergraduate and continuing medical education courses on this topic.
