 | Use this page to view syllabus information, learning objectives, required materials, and technical requirements for the module.
As a result of College adapting your modules to combine face-to-face on campus and online teaching and learning support, the breakdown of notional learning hours set out under the heading “Technical Requirements” below may not necessarily reflect how each module will be delivered this year. Further details relating to this will be made available by your department and will be updated as part of the student timetable. |
| BS 3240 - Evolutionary Medicine |
|---|
|
Associated Term:
2024/25 Academic Session
Learning Objectives:
Module Summary:
Aims: To understand how evolutionary principles can help us to better explain health and disease. To apply these principles to prevent and treat diseases using case studies for common diseases.
Why do we get sick? Why are pregnancies complicated? Why do we grow old? Why do infectious diseases have a disproportionate effect in men and women? These fascinating questions are the core of evolutionary medicine. Through case studies, we will explore contemporary issues in health and disease –ones that we confront on a regular basis– and ask how evolutionary concepts –e.g., life history theory, cooperation and conflict, constraints and trade-offs, coevolution– help us to understand, mitigate, or combat those issues. We will answer questions like: How does understanding human evolutionary history inform us of the causes of common diseases? What role does evolution play in reproductive health and chronic diseases? Why is cancer an evolutionary process that can avoid the action of chemotherapy? What are the consequences of pathogen evolution for disease outcomes, treatment, and control? What are some strategies for overcoming or circumventing pathogen evolution in response to medical intervention? Can we predict the next disease that will emerge in humans?
Pre-requisites:
None
Banned Combinations:
None
Learning Outcomes:
On completion of the module the students should be able to:
1. Discuss and interpret the effects of evolution on health and disease
2. Describe how cooperation and conflict determine pregnancy and the growth of cancer cells
3. Discuss how social interactions determine why we stop reproducing and grow old, and how social interactions can determine the ‘memories’ our genes carry with them
4. Elaborate on the way infectious diseases change their virulence, and resist the action of the immune system or medical treatment, and explain why the evolution of pathogens may drive the immune system to cause autoimmune diseases
5. Evaluate medical interventions that can avoid the undesirable long-term effects of evolution (for example, antibiotic resistance)
Required Materials: Click here for the reading list system Technical Requirements: The total number of notional learning hours associated with module is 150. This will normally be broken down as follows: Teaching & Learning Methods: Lectures 20 hours across 10 weeks Guided Independent Study 130 hours Formative Assessment: In-class or homework quizzes ( )Summative Assessment: Written exam (180 minutes) - 60% In-class quiz (70 minutes) - 40% |
| Return to Previous | New Search |
 |