Evolution and Medicine provides an accessible introduction to the new field of evolutionary medicine. Evolutionary concepts help explain why we remain vulnerable to disease, how pathogens and cancer cells evolve, and how the diseases that affected our evolutionary ancestors have shaped our biology. The book interweaves the presentation of evolutionary principles with examples that illustrate how an evolutionary perspective enhances our understanding of disease. It discusses the th...

Where did I come from? Why do I have two arms but just one head? How is my left leg the same size as my right one? Why are the fingerprints of identical twins not identical? How did my brain learn to learn? Why must I die? Questions like these remain biology's deepest and most ancient challenges. They force us to confront a fundamental biological problem: how can something as large and complex as a human body organize itself from the simplicity of a fertilized egg? A convergence of ideas f...

From a single cell - a fertilized egg - comes an elephant, a fly, or a human. How does this astonishing feat happen? How does the egg 'know' what to become? How does it divide into the different cells, the separate tissues, the brain, the fingernail - every tiniest detail of the growing foetus? These are the questions that the field of developmental biology seeks to answer. It is an area that is closely linked to genetics, evolution, and molecular biology. The processes are deeply rooted i...

A leading figure in immunology takes readers inside the remarkably powerful human immune system.Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRLThe immune system has incredible power to protect us from the ravages of infection. Boosted by vaccines, it can protect us from diseases such as measles. However, the power of the immune system is a double-edged sword: an overactive immune system can wreak havoc, destroying normal tissue and causin...

Human oocyte cryopreservation has undergone rapid growth, with technical improvement and increasing clinical application over the last ten years. Storing eggs is ethical and gives many young women their most realistic chance of conception. Cryopreservation, however, is still considered by many as an experimental technique and conflicting reports are published as to its efficacy. For these reasons, it is necessary to give reproductive researchers and practitioners comprehensive and systemat...

Study the latest research findings by international experts!This comprehensive volume presents state-of-the-art scientific research on the therapeutic uses of cannabis and its derivatives. All too often, discussions of the potential medical uses of this substance are distorted by political considerations that have no place in a medical debate. Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutic Potential features fair, equitable discussion of this emerging and controversia...

A complete introductory text on how to integrate basic genetic principles into the practice of clinical medicineA Doody's Core Title for 2024!Medical Genetics is the first text to focus on the everyday application of genetic assessment and its diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive implications in clinical practice. It is intended to be a text that you can use throughout medical school and refer back to when questions ari...

Recent advances in the fields of medicine and technology have led to the development of stem cell therapy. A stem cell is a cell that has the potential to develop into many different types of cell in the body. It has the ability to divide and copy itself and at least one other specialized type of cell. Stem Cells was written to provide information about the development of stem cell therapy, which can be used in the fields of research and medicine. The main goal of the book is to provide re...

An examination of brain-immune system communication in autism, schizophrenia, and depression.In Infectious Behavior, neurobiologist Paul Patterson examines the involvement of the immune system in autism, schizophrenia, and major depressive disorder. Although genetic approaches to these diseases have garnered the lion's share of publicity and funding, scientists are uncovering evidence of the important avenues of communication between the brain and the immu...

Evolutionary science is critical to an understanding of integrated human biology and is increasingly recognised as a core discipline by medical and public health professionals. Advances in the field of genomics, epigenetics, developmental biology, and epidemiology have led to the growing realisation that incorporating evolutionary thinking is essential for medicine to achieve its full potential. This revised and updated second edition of the first comprehensive textbook of evolutionary med...

Offering a study of biological, biomedical and biocultural approaches, the second edition of Human Growth and Development is a valued resource for researchers, professors and graduate students across the interdisciplinary area of human development. With timely chapters on obesity, diet / lifestyle, and genetics, this edition is the only publication offering a biological, biomedical and biocultural approach. The second edition of Human Growth and Development includes contributions from the ...

Wide-ranging and inclusive, this text provides an invaluable review of an expansive selection of topics in human evolution, variation and adaptability for professionals and students in biological anthropology, evolutionary biology, medical sciences and psychology. The chapters are organized around four broad themes, with sections devoted to phenotypic and genetic variation within and between human populations, reproductive physiology and behavior, growth and development, and human health f...