Content
Introduction
The recent pandemic has alarmed many people about how a virus could deplete almost a generation of people. As teachers, we did not have a complete concept of a coronavirus related to those causing a simple common cold, that evolved into a scary and deadly variant. How could the SARS CoV-2 virus evolve to cause the COVID-19 pandemic which killed so many people all over the world? Many questions linger in our minds, but education on how pathogens evolve would be a great topic to study and teach in school. The knowledge of how viruses and diseases come into existence could be covered at the beginning of the curriculum. Teaching at a middle school in the Navajo Nation does not isolate us from any pathogens or viruses. Teaching and explaining viruses' makeup and transmission is a high priority.
During the pandemic, our native people resorted to natural remedies. Traditional herbalists and practitioners of traditional ceremonies turned to plants near Navajo Nation springs, mesas, and mountains. The herbalists and practitioners knew specific plants that were believed to counteract SARS CoV-2 and the COVID disease. A plant called sage familiar to many households near and around the Navajo Nation is not domesticated like the modern sage we cook with in the kitchen. The native plant sage is used to treat various health problems such as the common cold, sprained muscles, broken bones, and respiratory issues. By explanation, Native American Indians knew of viruses and pathogens before Europeans crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and they used local plants known for medication against illnesses. In my unit, I would tie-in medical practices of Native American Indians in history, which could be compared to how more recent understanding of pathogen evolution is perceived in evolutionary medicine that seeks to better understand the health problems in humans through knowledge of evolutionary biology over time. There are similarities and differences, but they have in common the notion of solving human illnesses and it is important to appreciate the history of how medicinal plants helped the Native American Indians address health problems.
Explaining and spending one week on the biology of virus and bacteria pathogens can help students understand how and why disease causing germs are transmitted. In addition, teaching students about evolution by natural selection is essential because this process affects all living species, and human hosts do not evolve as quickly as our pathogens. How did living organisms come to be? The process of natural selection explains the species biodiversity on Earth. Darwin's theory of natural selection describes how populations are challenged to better survive and reproduce when challenged by their environments, and that the most successful variants are the ones that evolve to become most common and to form new species over time. During all this evolution, disease pathogens such as viruses were evolving and adjusting to challenges quicker than their hosts. In the current day, it is essential that students understand that this same process causes viruses to quickly adapt to overcome our medicines, such as vaccines. The fast ability for viruses to adjust to changes in their environments is mind-blowing.
Evolutionary medicine is sometimes called Darwinian Medicine because of Darwin’s impact in describing how evolution by natural selection works. Darwinian medicine applies modern evolutionary theory to understanding human health and disease. (Wikipedia, 2024) Jonathan B. Losos and Richard E Lenski explain that evolution is not just about what is presented at museums with fossils of extinct creatures, but also how humans and Neanderthals evolved from common relatives long ago. Thus, the study of evolution is necessary to learn more in-depth about humans and our distant relatives, and can be studied using ancient DNA samples. So, how does this relate to what students should know? This information helps us understand how every living thing on Earth has an interconnecting genetic relationship. Questions in evolutionary medicine include how humans evolved to have the traits we show today, and why we suffer from certain diseases. The questions are essential because they help us trace back through time to look at evolution of our unique traits and behaviors, and to compare and contrast our health problems to those of other living organisms. The simple statement from Wikipedia explains it well: Modern biomedical research and practice have focused on the molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying health and disease, and this can be best understood through knowledge of evolution by natural selection.
Evolutionary medicine focuses on why evolution has shaped the mechanisms that may leave us susceptible to disease. As our seminar leader, Dr. Paul Turner (Yale University), explained in our lectures, human development involves our growth from a single fertilized egg into a multicellular adult with specialized cells and organs. As we develop our cells must divide and reproduce so that we grow in size, and throughout our lifetime we make new cells to replace older ones. However, we face a mishap if the cells that are duplicating experience mutations (mistakes), which are not always corrected. These mutations can make cells continue to grow uncontrolled in our body, forming masses of cells called tumors and the disease cancer. Therefore, the study of cancer is best understood as an evolution problem, because the cells in your body can mutate and evolve to grow when they ordinarily should not, and this is an example of how understanding evolution can help explain a common disease problem (Turner Seminar, 2024).
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