Journal
MEDCOMM
Volume 3, Issue 4, Pages -Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/mco2.174
Keywords
comparative medicine; evolutionary medicine; pregnancy; variational traits
Categories
Funding
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [P33540]
- National Cancer Institute (NCI) [U54-CA209992]
- John Templeton Foundation [61329]
- BurroughsWellcome Fund [1021873]
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [P33540] Funding Source: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
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This paper argues that there is a fundamental connection between medical sciences and evolutionary biology, as both study biological variation. Evolutionary biology states that genetic differences among species come from mutations within populations, which implies a mechanistic continuity between variation within a species and between species. Research that leverages comparisons among species can help uncover the genetic basis of human disease vulnerabilities. Genetically caused diseases can be understood as extreme states of an underlying trait, rather than distinct traits as assumed in GWAS studies.
In this short paper, we argue that there is a fundamental connection between the medical sciences and evolutionary biology as both are sciences of biological variation. Medicine studies pathological variation among humans (and domestic animals in veterinary medicine) and evolutionary biology studies variation within and among species in general. A key principle of evolutionary biology is that genetic differences among species have arisen first from mutations originating within populations. This implies a mechanistic continuity between variation among individuals within a species and variation between species. This fact motivates research that seeks to leverage comparisons among species to unravel the genetic basis of human disease vulnerabilities. This view also implies that genetically caused diseases can be understood as extreme states of an underlying trait, that is, an axis of variation, rather than distinct traits, as often assumed in GWAS studies. We illustrate these points with a number of examples as diverse as anatomical birth defects, cranio-facial variation, preeclampsia and vulnerability to metastatic cancer.
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