Analyse par le centre de recherche crees de montpellier sur l'évolution scientifique de la médecine

Evolutionary medicine

Evolutionary biologists and physicians began consulting each other some thirty years ago, and this reflection has led to a transversal discipline called Evolutionary Medicine. While classical medical research is mainly focused on mechanisms underlying health and disease, especially molecular and physiological, evolutionary medicine is more concerned with answering the question of how evolution has shaped such mechanisms. Indeed, the goal is to understand why we get sick, not just "how" we get sick. In some cases, proposals derived from evolutionary biology can lead to concrete treatment solutions, such as for the management of pathogen or cancer cell resistance to therapies. In other cases, proposals may seem far from medical realities, but remain an essential part of understanding health.