Hi Foghadbui, First, I love this paper! Nice choice. The questions concerning it are below. My advice is for you to try to divide them up roughly evenly among your group members. You are even welcome to post the answers independently if you'd like; just be sure to reiterate the questions. Please come see me if you need help! 1. State each of Darwin’s four postulates. Fully explain how the generation of treatment-resistant cancer cells meets each of the four postulates for evolution by natural selection. 2. The authors repeatedly assert that therapeutic resistance in cancer is fundamentally an evolutionary process. Why, then, do you think the authors found such scant mention of evolutionary concepts in the cancer literature? Which of the three reasons on pages 6 and 7 do you believe are most to blame? (In answering this question, consider the way science was portrayed in the movie “Flock of Dodos.”) 3. Why should a doctor understand evolution? To fully address this question, read “Health and Medicine” (Futuyma 2005) under “Service Learning” on WebCT. 4. Consider the importance of variation in evolutionary processes. Why would it be important to evaluate the within-tumor heterogeneity in a population of neoplasmic (cancerous) cells? Bonus: Do you think med students should have to take an evolution class? Why or why not? -Dr. Walker
Hi Foghadbui,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I love this paper! Nice choice. The questions concerning it are below. My advice is for you to try to divide them up roughly evenly among your group members. You are even welcome to post the answers independently if you'd like; just be sure to reiterate the questions. Please come see me if you need help!
1. State each of Darwin’s four postulates. Fully explain how the generation of treatment-resistant cancer cells meets each of the four postulates for evolution by natural selection.
2. The authors repeatedly assert that therapeutic resistance in cancer is fundamentally an evolutionary process. Why, then, do you think the authors found such scant mention of evolutionary concepts in the cancer literature? Which of the three reasons on pages 6 and 7 do you believe are most to blame? (In answering this question, consider the way science was portrayed in the movie “Flock of Dodos.”)
3. Why should a doctor understand evolution? To fully address this question, read “Health and Medicine” (Futuyma 2005) under “Service Learning” on WebCT.
4. Consider the importance of variation in evolutionary processes. Why would it be important to evaluate the within-tumor heterogeneity in a population of neoplasmic (cancerous) cells?
Bonus: Do you think med students should have to take an evolution class? Why or why not?
-Dr. Walker