Integrating evolution into medical education for women’s health care practitioners

Power, Michael L.; Snead, Carrie; Reed, Kate; Schulkin, Jay

doi:10.1093/emph/eoaa009

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Evolutionary medicine strives to incorporate evolutionary and ecological perspectives into medical theory and practice (Trevathan, 2007; Power et al ., 2020). A core concept in evolutionary medicine is that extant species, including humans, have adapted over evolutionary time to specific environmental challenges, such that the health, survival, and reproduction of modern individuals is influenced by these evolutionary processes (Gluckman et al ., 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating microbiome science and evolutionary medicine into animal health and conservation

Bornbusch,

Power,

Schulkin

et al. 2023

Biological Reviews

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Microbiome science has provided groundbreaking insights into human and animal health. Similarly, evolutionary medicine – the incorporation of eco‐evolutionary concepts into primarily human medical theory and practice – is increasingly recognised for its novel perspectives on modern diseases. Studies of host–microbe relationships have been expanded beyond humans to include a wide range of animal taxa, adding new facets to our understanding of animal ecology, evolution, behaviour, and health. In this review, we propose that a broader application of evolutionary medicine, combined with microbiome science, can provide valuable and innovative perspectives on animal care and conservation. First, we draw on classic ecological principles, such as alternative stable states, to propose an eco‐evolutionary framework for understanding variation in animal microbiomes and their role in animal health and wellbeing. With a focus on mammalian gut microbiomes, we apply this framework to populations of animals under human care, with particular relevance to the many animal species that suffer diseases linked to gut microbial dysfunction (e.g. gut distress and infection, autoimmune disorders, obesity). We discuss diet and microbial landscapes (i.e. the microbes in the animal's external environment), as two factors that are (i) proposed to represent evolutionary mismatches for captive animals, (ii) linked to gut microbiome structure and function, and (iii) potentially best understood from an evolutionary medicine perspective. Keeping within our evolutionary framework, we highlight the potential benefits – and pitfalls – of modern microbial therapies, such as pre‐ and probiotics, faecal microbiota transplants, and microbial rewilding. We discuss the limited, yet growing, empirical evidence for the use of microbial therapies to modulate animal gut microbiomes beneficially. Interspersed throughout, we propose 12 actionable steps, grounded in evolutionary medicine, that can be applied to practical animal care and management. We encourage that these actionable steps be paired with integration of eco‐evolutionary perspectives into our definitions of appropriate animal care standards. The evolutionary perspectives proposed herein may be best appreciated when applied to the broad diversity of species under human care, rather than when solely focused on humans. We urge animal care professionals, veterinarians, nutritionists, scientists, and others to collaborate on these efforts, allowing for simultaneous care of animal patients and the generation of valuable empirical data.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating microbiome science and evolutionary medicine into animal health and conservation

Bornbusch,

Power,

Schulkin

et al. 2023

Biological Reviews

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Explanatory integration and integrated explanations in Darwinian medicine and evolutionary medicine

Kranke

2022

Theor Med Bioeth

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Recently, two research traditions that bring together evolutionary biology and medicine, that is to say, Darwinian medicine and evolutionary medicine, have been identified. In this paper, I analyse these two research traditions with respect to explanatory and interdisciplinary integration. My analysis shows that Darwinian medicine does not integrate medicine and evolutionary biology in any strong sense but does incorporate evolutionary concepts into medicine. I also show that backward-looking explanations in Darwinian medicine are not integrated proximate-and-ultimate explanations but functional explanations that include reference to evolutionary concepts. Nevertheless, explanations in Darwinian medicine have heuristic roles as they potentially contribute to conceptual change and tie pieces of knowledge from different fields of medical research together. I argue that Darwinian medicine is an “interfield” that fosters cross-disciplinary exchange between evolutionary biologists and medical researchers and practitioners based on division of labour and separation, rather than unity. Research in evolutionary medicine, on the other hand, happens at the intersection of evolutionary biology and medicine where the two disciplines are already integrated and is designed to produce entangled proximate-evolutionary explanations. My analysis thus adds another important aspect to the philosophical discussion on the distinction between Darwinian medicine and evolutionary medicine.

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Integrating evolution into medical education for women’s health care practitioners

Cited by 2 publications

References 61 publications

Integrating microbiome science and evolutionary medicine into animal health and conservation

Integrating microbiome science and evolutionary medicine into animal health and conservation

Explanatory integration and integrated explanations in Darwinian medicine and evolutionary medicine

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