Discussion Questions: Evolving Ideas: Why Does Evolution Matter Now?
One reason evolutionary theory is valuable is that it gives researchers a conceptual framework within which to form hypotheses that explain events in nature. Most of the time, evolutionary principles are used to explain past events, but the mechanism of natural selection has great power to explain events that are happening today. One of the most important of these is the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Discuss how the conceptual framework of evolutionary theory is enabling medical researchers, not only to understand the evolution of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, but to devise treatments that have the best chances of preventing this kind of evolution. Discuss how current practices involving the use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture, along with the use of antibacterial substances in everything from dishwashing soap to mouthwash may be directing the evolution of bacteria that live in and around humans. Discuss ways in which globalization has dramatically changed the nature of the environment in which human pathogens live. What consequences of this change does evolutionary theory enable you to predict?
