In the May 26 (2011) issue of Nature, Vijaykrishna et al. address patterns of evolution and transmission exhibited by swine influenza A viruses (SwIV) isolated from pigs beings slaughtered in Hong Kong between May 1998 and January 2010. Although the focus of the...
Whatever definition is used, there is no shortage of complexity in biology, medicine, or of greatest relevance for this forum, evolutionary medicine. As is made abundantly clear in the first-ever textbook of evolutionary medicine by Gluckman et al. (2010), in...
The imitation of living and sentient beings by machines is recently much on the minds of many Americans. A computer designed and built by scientists and engineers at IBM, “Watson,” convincingly defeated two former “Jeopardy” champions in a televised competition...
Biological evolution is, obviously, a historical (i.e., time-dependent) process. However, the importance to evolution of dynamics occurring on multiple time scales is still being delineated. I recently attended a symposium sponsored by the Case Department of...
The human appendix has long fascinated both biologists and physicians. A recent bout of appendicitis has heightened my interest in this organ and has stimulated me to write about it. Because of its small and variable size, and its apparent uselessness, Darwin (1871)...
