BI3EHD-Evolution in Health and Disease: Lessons from the Natural World

Module Provider: School of Biological Sciences
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Terms in which taught: Autumn / Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Dr Dyan Sellayah
Email: d.sellayah@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This interdisciplinary module is suitable for all SBS degree programmes. Biomedicine and evolutionary biology offer two distinct perspectives on the same biological phenomena. One is concerned with diagnosing and treating ill-health caused by dysfunctional biological processes. The other serves to understand how natural selection has shaped the genetics underlying biological processes of populations and species over generations, yet rarely are the two perspectives integrated. We know that many diseases have a genetic basis, yet understanding how evolutionary factors have shaped the underlying genetic basis for disease may provide important mechanistic insight and reveal new approaches for treatment. In this module, we will apply evolutionary principles to the understanding of the causes of modern medical conditions. We will learn how some of the most important medical problems of our time – e.g. infectious disease, obesity, ageing, and cancer – have been shaped by our evolutionary history, study relevant evolutionary processes across the animal kingdom and the Tree of Life,  and gain an appreciation of the implications of evolutionary biology to human health and disease.

Aims:

The module will have two distinct strands: a Zoology / Ecology strand and a biomedical science strand. While students will take both strands for lectures and workshops, their assignments and further reading will be strand-specific which allows tailoring of material to either an ecology or biomedicine focus.  For all students, this module aims to foster an understanding and appreciation for diseases from an evolutionary perspective by delving deep into their underlying genetic and evolutionary basis. This module will provide students with a broad understanding of evolutionary principles, concepts and theories and relate them to the pathogenesis of diseases and approaches to disease treatment. The genetic and evolutionary processes which impact on disease will be discussed and students will be encouraged to take a critical and analytical approach to study.

Assessable learning outcomes:

• Gain an understanding of various evolutionary theories and how they apply to modern medical conditions.


• Gain an appreciation for the complex interaction between genetics and environment to bring about disease.


• Understand how selection pressures have acted in evolutionary history and are still acting in modern humans to influence health and disease.


• Gain an understanding of how knowledge of evolutionary principles may be applied to m odern medicine to treat or prevent disease.

Additional outcomes:

Outline content:

• Deep time and the evolution of the genetic code


• Viral evolution (including HIV and origins of COVID)


• Sex determination and sexual conflicts


• Transposable genetic elements 


• Evolution of ageing 


• Nutrition and human evolution


• Evolution of the immune system


• Evolution of resistance to infectious disease


• Evolutionary origins of obesity – the thr ifty gene hypothesis


• Archaic human admixture (how Neanderthal genes impact on modern human disease susceptibility and resistance)


• Evolutionary perspective on cancer


• Developmental programming of obesity


• Hygiene hypothesis

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures	10	10
Practicals classes and workshops	10	10
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)	10	10
Wider reading (directed)	20	20
Peer assisted learning	10	10
Preparation for tutorials	10	10
Preparation for seminars	10	10
Revision and preparation	20	20
Total hours by term	100	100	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	100

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

The assessment will consist of 100% coursework (2 separate pieces worth 50% each). One piece of coursework will be in the form of a written assignment and the other will be a group-based assignment.  

Formative assessment methods:

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/qualitysupport/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

A mark of 40% overall

Reassessment arrangements:

Re-submission of coursework

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books:  None

2) Specialist equipment or materials:  None

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear:  None

4) Printing and binding:  None

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification:  None

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence:  None

Last updated: 28 June 2021