The human body has traits that evolved at different times, from 1.5 billion to 2 million years ago, each bringing health benefits and risks. Multicellularity enabled organs and cancer. The immune system defends us but can cause inflammation. Breastfeeding supports infant health but relates to breast cancer risk. Menstruation and invasive placentas improved reproduction but led to pain and cancer risks. Human-specific traits like bipedalism and aging brought new issues like back pain and childbirth problems. Hair loss and sweat glands helped us stay cool but increased skin cancer risk. Our hunter-gatherer past shaped our microbiome and health, but also made us prone to modern diseases from lifestyle changes. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40702]

Humans have long been exposed to three main types of smoke: from early domestic fires, modern wildfires, and more recently, tobacco and fossil fuel pollution. All release tiny particles from partly burned plants, containing harmful chemicals like nitrogen oxides and carcinogens. These particles raise risks for lung cancer, dementia, and even childhood obesity. Studies show that air pollution can disrupt brain chemistry, increase Alzheimer’s-related proteins, and activate stress-related genes (NFkB, Nrf2). A new drug (GSM-15606) shows promise in reducing brain damage from pollution in mice. People with the ApoE4 gene may be more vulnerable, while the ApoE3 gene, possibly evolved 200,000 years ago, may offer some protection. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40700]

The human gut microbiome is tightly linked our health. Our analyses of diverse human populations from around the globe, ranging from hunter-gatherer to industrialized, show that the gut microbiome is profoundly influenced by lifestyle. With a large collaborative team, we conducted deep metagenomic sequencing of the gut microbiomes of Tsimane horticulturalists from Bolivia and compared them to those of Hadza hunter-gatherers from Tanzania. We are also investigating whether diet and microbial therapies can address deficiencies in the industrialized gut community. Molecular mechanisms of host-microbial interaction are pursued using an array of technologies and experimental approaches including gnotobiotic and conventional mouse models, quantitative imaging, and a metabolomics pipeline focused on investigating microbiota-dependent metabolites. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40698]

The essence of Being Human is the practice of Biocultural Reproduction (BCR). BCR is defined as the set of marriage and kinship based rules for extra-maternal cooperation in the production, feeding, and care of offspring. Human evolution theory needs to explain how people successfully combined a vastly extended period of offspring dependency and delayed reproduction with helpless newborns — with large heads and much body fat (even with problems giving birth) -- a short duration of breast-feeding, an adolescent growth spurt, and vigorous post-menopause valuable grandmothers. Are these characteristics a package or a mosaic? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40697]

Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most important challenges of modern medicine worldwide. They are often attributed to maladaptations of our body to our peculiar form of locomotion, upright bipedalism. This lecture will explore the evolutionary origin of major musculoskeletal disorders such as back problems and hip joint osteoarthritis. I will show that these problems represent a relatively recent phenomenon, occurring only during the last few decades, and thus are unrelated to our skeletal adaptations. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40696]

Phenotypic variation within the skeleton has biological, behavioral, and biomedical functional implications for individuals and species. Thus, it is critical to understand how genomic, environmental, and mediating regulatory factors combine and interact to drive skeletal trait development and evolution. One way to do this is by studying skeletal diseases that disrupt skeletal function — like osteoarthritis (OA) which is a chronic disorder characterized by the degradation of cartilage and underlying bone in joints and can lead to severe pain and mobility limitations. This talk will discuss what is known about OA in humans and other primates, as well as recent advances that are further informing these topics. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40695]

The rate of cancer and cancer malignancy differ greatly among mammalian species. The placental – maternal interface is also highly variable between placental mammals. This lecture will discuss recent advances that suggest that there is a causal connection between the evolution of placental biology and the biology and rate of cancer malignancy. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40694]

Closing remarks for CARTA’s Evolutionary Origins of Art and Aesthetics symposium held in March 2009. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 16440]

Christopher Boehm is Professor of Biological Sciences & Anthropology and Director of the Goodall Research Center at the University of Southern California. He is a cultural anthropologist with a subspecialty in primatology, who researches conflict resolution, altruism, moral origins, and feuding and warfare.

Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21281]

Christophe Boesch is Director of Primatology at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. His research takes an inclusive approach, addressing the biology of chimpanzees from many viewpoints and applying this knowledge to our understanding of the evolution of cognitive and cultural abilities in humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21282]