Exam 14: Evolution and Human Health

An unusually dangerous strain of flu that infects humans was reported from China in the spring of 2013.The strain is called H7N9.In this coding scheme,H and N refer to ________ and ________ proteins.

Initial studies of the influenza A virus by Walter Fitch and colleagues showed that ________.

A group of lineages―such as viral strains―that all descend from a common ancestor makes up a ________.

Multicellular organisms such as humans could be thought of as populations of cells,where each member of the population is derived from a single ancestor: the zygote.In such populations,we would expect to see that ________.

Your text discusses Paul Ewald's studies of how evolutionary trade-offs might have influenced the evolution of virulence in human pathogens.One thing your text did not mention is disease caused by food-borne pathogens such as Salmonella,Campylobacter,and Escherichia coli O157:H7.In industrialized nations,fresh food is often shipped in bulk quantities for thousands of miles from where it is grown.This means that food-borne outbreaks can sicken large numbers of people,and also may force the costly recall of large amounts of contaminated food,over wide regions.This is a relatively recent development; for almost all of human history,fresh food had to be eaten close to where it was produced.Apply Ewald's ideas to food-borne diseases.Can we make any predictions of future trends in virulence? Are there steps we can take,specifically based on evolutionary biology,to decrease the incidence and severity of food-borne disease?

Which of the following are NOT one of Stuart Levy's guidelines for limiting the development of antibiotic resistance?

The biggest issue facing the successful production of influenza vaccines is that ________.

The modern lifestyle of humans has generated an apparent increase in the frequency of some conditions,as compared to our hunter-gatherer ancestors.Which of the following is NOT one of them?

Strokes,cancer,and heart disease are sometimes called ________ [three words] because they are/were rare in hunter-gatherer populations.

In most vertebrates,full siblings share as many genes with each other,on average,as each one does with either parent.One might predict that serious conflict between siblings should be rare and altruistic behavior should be the norm,given that siblings share the same "genetic interests." As anyone who has ever had a brother or sister knows,this is not always the case.In fact,in a number of bird species,notably eagles and other raptors (birds of prey),females usually lay two eggs; soon after hatching,the larger chick pushes the other chick out of the nest,or otherwise attacks it and tries to kill it.(This behavior is known as Cainism,after the Bible story of Cain and Abel.)Generate a hypothesis to explain this behavior in evolutionary terms.Can you apply this hypothesis to human behavior?