Evolutionary medicine is not a field of science, like plant biology, microbiology, or biochemistry. Instead it is an approach that integrates evolutionary biology into healthcare and medicine. It is a rapidly growing field that relies on the concepts of evolutionary biology to understand, prevent, and treat disease. In this project you will select a health concern/disease and apply the concepts of evolutionary biology to your topic. This project will be written in a scientific format, like a scientific paper. Scientific papers are essential for compiling information or original research and distributing it to others.
Here are a few possible topics you can select for your Evolutionary Medicine Project; risky behavior in adolescents, obesity, binge eating, infanticide, obsession and social media, cardiovascular disease, self-induced vomiting, self-starvation in response to stress/fear etc.
pick a concise title for your paper. The title should be short, descriptive, and refer specifically to your project. For example, if you select obesity you would have a title like “The evolutionary aspect of obesity” or “The practicality of obesity from an evolutionary perspective.”
Introduction: This section provides background information on the project topic. This section will tell the reader what topic the paper will focus on and why it is important in society and healthcare. In this section you want to address the scope and the aims of the paper. Be sure to cite sources in this section of the paper as you will use data from other scientific studies and textbooks to provide the background on your topic. This section should be ~ ½ a page in length.
Mechanism: This section should provide sufficient information on the anatomy, physiology, and regulation of your topic. You will also need to discuss how the health concern/disease works to accomplish its function. We will focus on the mechanism in the human body as this is most relevant to healthcare and medicine. I would suggest having a figure in this section that focuses on the anatomy/physiology/regulation of your topic as this provides an easy way to relay a pathway/process to the reader. In this section you must cite your sources as you are not performing any original research on your topic. This section should be ~ ¾- 1 page in length.
Ontogeny/Development: In this section you will want to discuss how the health concern/disease develops in an individual. Be sure to describe the health concern/disease at life stages and the mechanism that controls its development. This section is different than your mechanisms section. In this section you want to address the developmental differences that are behind the issue. Again, this section will have a heavy focus on anatomy & physiology in humans. I would suggest having a figure on the ontogeny/development of your topic as this provides an easy way to relay a pathway/process to the reader. In this section you must cite your sources as you are not performing any original research on your topic. This section should be ~ ¾-1 page in length.
Adaptive Significance: In this section you want to address how the health concern/disease interacts with the environment to influence fitness in ways that explain the traits form. You want to focus on the usefulness of the health concern/disease and how it aids an organism in survival or provides an environmental advantage to improve fitness. Be sure to address why this concern/disease may have developed, what benefits it has to the organism, how it is
Sample Solution