Evolution

Kim Cooper, Assistant Professor in the Cell and Developmental Biology Section of the UC San Diego Division of Biological Sciences, discusses the advantages and the potential risks of CRISPR/Cas9-based active genetic systems and ways to maximize benefits to society. How do we decide when not to do the things that we can? In the last couple of years, a new “active genetic” technology has been shown to promote efficient inheritance of desired gene modifications in insects. We have now shown that we can do this in rodents. This allows the assembly of complex genotypes that were once unthinkable due to cost, time, and more. Such applications could improve drug testing and mouse models of complex human genetic diseases. These same approaches could also be used to control invasive wild rodent populations and vectors of disease. Despite these benefits, many have raised concerns about unintended consequences of the release of transgenic organisms. Series: "Exploring Ethics" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 33672]

Randolph Nesse (Arizona State Univ) contends in this talk that the framework of evolutionary medicine offers a taxonomy of explanations for genetic variations that harm health.

Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31608]

Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33568]

Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33566]

Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Evidence for meat eating in the form of butchery marks on animal bones made by hominins dates back to at least 2.6 million years ago. Perhaps they didn’t hunt them, but instead scavenged the leftovers from carnivore kills. Briana Pobiner, Goerge Washington University. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33576]

Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33577]

Question and answer session from the CARTA symposium: The Role of Hunting in Anthropogeny Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33578]

Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. The idea that women have evolved to be plant gatherers and men hunters has dominated evolutionary thinking and the popular imagination for decades. Australia is one of the places that challenges our understanding of who hunts and why. Across Australia prehistorically, women were active hunters, with a primary focus on the hand-capture of small to medium sized animals.

Rebecca Bliege Bird, Pennsylvania State University. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33571]

Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Ian Gilby, Arizona State University, argues that the considerable variation in predation frequency within and between chimpanzee social groups is driven by the energetic costs and physical risks that hunting entails. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33572]

Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. While the specific role that meat might have played in human evolution remains hotly contested – it certainly changed the playing field for our earliest ancestors. Alyssa Crittenden, UNLV, addresses the nutritional significance of meat and discuss how, during the course of human evolution, red meat has been transformed from a blessing to a potential curse. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33570]