The Dawn of Darwinian Medicine
@article{Williams1991TheDO, title={The Dawn of Darwinian Medicine}, author={George Christopher Williams and Randolph M. Nesse}, journal={The Quarterly Review of Biology}, year={1991}, volume={66}, pages={1 - 22} }
While evolution by natural selection has long been a foundation for biomedical science, it has recently gained new power to explain many aspects of disease. This progress results largely from the disciplined application of what has been called the adaptationist program. We show that this increasingly significant research paradigm can predict otherwise unsuspected facets of human biology, and that it provides new insights into the causes of medical disorders, such as those discussed below: 1…
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