Sigma-Tau foundation and Master SGP will host a science communication event on the Evolution of Evolutionary Medicine, as part of the International Darwin Day.
Coordinated by Gilberto Corbellini
When: Saturday, February 9, 2008 – 4:00pm
Where: Casa del Cinema, Villa Borghese. Map.
Speakers:
- Mark A. Hanson (University of Southampton), Evolution, development and disease
- Andrea Rinaldi (University of Cagliari), Race in genetics and medicine
- Claudio Franceschi (University of Bologna), Aging and evolutionary medicine
- Lewis Wolpert (University College, London), Evolutionary biology of depression
- Gianfranco Peluso (Università di Napoli), The evolutionary aspects of cancer
See you there!
Thanks to Rita Stivali for first letting me know about this event
I had not mentioned that the Italian bimonthly science magazine Darwin was also organizing this event.
Unfortunately, the public was not allowed to ask any questions to the speakers. But some of the talks were well laid out and very accessible, such as the one by Lewis Wolpert (pictured below) who spoke about depression and evolution. One thing that caught my attention – did not think in these terms before – is when he addressed the question: “Why has depression, being disabling and with some genetic component – survived the pressure set by evolution?”. He answered that its genetic base is so complex that evolution cannot act on it effectively. The same, he reckons, could well apply to cancer.