RTG 2220: Evolutionary Processes in Adaptation and Disease (RTG 2220 EvoPAD)

Basic data for this project

Description

The evolution of antibiotic resistance by pathogens and the rising rates of cardiovascular diseases and psychiatric disorders, pose major challenges to human health. Moreover, the distinction between health and disease may depend on individual life history and its interaction with the environment. EvoPAD will use knowledge derived from the theory of evolution to achieve a deeper understanding of the processes that are underlying adaptation and disease. Moreover, diseases are often exciting for evolutionary research itself, as evolution is generally assumed to lead to adaptation, and the question arises, why diseases have not been eliminated by evolution. While this is obvious in the case of rapidly evolving pathogens, it seems counter-intuitive in cases where disease-causing genetic variants are produced or maintained in the population. Today, we are able to trace such evolutionary processes in molecular detail. Such knowledge will be used by graduate students of the EvoPAD to advance evolutionary theory, and in turn apply evolutionary approaches to medical questions.