How Do Animals Have Negatively Affected Natural Selection

In "Survival of the Sickest" by Dr. Sharon Moalem and Jonathan Prince, the authors prove that modern day diseases were actually vital survival traits for our ancestors. Traits of certain passed on diseases that we would now normally consider deadly or unhealthy helped humans adapt to other sicknesses and problems. Diabetes, favism, and hemochromatosis are three examples of how hereditary diseases have once helped humans survive in the past.

discoveries is information regarding chromosomal and genetic disorders. Both chromosomal and genetic ailments can have harmful effects on the body. Genetic diseases such as Bloom's Syndrome occur as a result of gene alterations. These gene mutations cause the chromosomes to become unstable, leading to chromosomal breaks, separations and structural repositioning (Freivogel 170). Chromosomal diseases like Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease are also caused by mutations, which are nearly irreversible (Krajewski 232).

Imagine having a baby. You are completely in love with this baby. You watch him grow, learn to rollover, and say his first words. After getting to know this baby so well, and being in complete adoration, your precious 1 year old dies. Or what if you get to know your child for 12 years, but then you have to watch them die slowly from suffocation because their lungs have inflamed too much for them to breathe. This happens because of genetic disorders. The first example, SCIDs, second example, Cystic Fibrosis. Where do humans get these diseases? From human genes. Researchers are just beginning to use genetic technology to reveal the genomic contributions to these different phenotypes, and as they do so, they are also discovering a variety of other

It is said that bears, seals, and dogs are related in some ways. The different animals have evolved from one species and been changing into more diverse animals (66 Interesting Facts About Evolution 1). Evolution by natural selection has influenced the altering species of animals in the world by giving them the ability to naturally choose whom to be with and whom would make the best fit for the reproduction. Since most animals are related, the change in animal offspring and species has been very drastic. Since evolution by natural selection has influenced the diverse species of animals by altering genetic variations, the species are able to adapt to survive through genetic transformations.

Finally selection this is after the species has separated, natural selection effects populations separately. As each area is different the selection pressures are different, in which why their characteristics are different as they are ‘selected for’ their habitat. An example of selection includes warrior ants, in which they have chemicals that tell other ants in their family not to attack. Some of these ants have adapted and learnt to imitate the chemical signal from other colonies so they can invade another colony and the workers wouldn’t know (Your dictionary, 2015).

A genetic disorder is an illness that is caused by one or multiple abnormalities in the genome. Genetic disorders are not unusual, however when a genetic disorder occurs it usually happens in one and every thousand or million persons. Sometimes genetic disorders can or cannot be heritable, meaning passed down from the parents to their offspring. Often times the parents are unaware that they can carry over a genetic disorder to their offspring. When genetic disorders that does not occur from the parent, it can mean that the cause for the genetic disorder is caused by a new mutation or changes in the DNA. Most cellular structures consist of proteins that carry out to work and to perform life functions. When a gene is disrupted in a way that the proteins no longer carry out a normal function, a disorder can occur.

While many believe that diseases and viruses are only harmful, Dr. Sharon Moalem explained how many different diseases actually helped humans survive through many hardships. Moalem writes, “Why would you take a pill that was guaranteed to kill you in forty years? Because it will save you tomorrow. Why would we select for a gene that will kill us through iron loading by the time we reach what is now Middle Ages? Because it will protect us from a disease that is killing everyone long before that.” Overtime, people would think that evolution would get rid of terrible diseases. However, evolution has actually kept diseases like hemochromatosis, favism and diabetes in the gene pool because these diseases seem to have helped us. Without them, the human race may be completely different from what we know it to be.

A Mutation is a change in the DNA structure or sequence of a gene. Mutations are major cause of genetic diversity that can be sometimes detrimental. Mutation of a gene can result in the production of an altered protein that functions poorly or in some cases no longer encodes a functional protein, such mutations can cause genetic diseases. This paper will talk about three examples of diseases involving mutations. Before entering into diseases let’s take a look at what causes mutations and different type of mutations.

The term genetic disorders describe problems caused in the genes by abnormalities of the genome (Genetic). These genetic disorders are typically rare and are passed on from parent to offspring by recessive or dominant alleles, commonly known as gene types. One of these many rare disorders is Down syndrome. There are three types of Down syndrome: trisomy 21, translocation Down syndrome, and mosaic Down syndrome. Down syndrome is an incurable congenital disorder arising from a chromosomal defect, which results in a multitude of physical and cognitive symptoms (Missing).

“Genes are paired- one copy of each gene pair is inherited from the mother and the other copy from the father.” If a genetic disorder is a shown trait through an individual the way it was inherited is through one of these two genes in the pair is abnormal and contains a extra gene. “Around 6,000 known genetic disorders are caused by inheriting an altered gene.” Down syndrome is one of these diseases with an extra affected chromosome (21). Down Syndrome affects physical growth and gives a person a disability in knowledge and development. It is an incurable disease and a individual must be born with it to occur. Cystic Fibrosis is another gene disorder it affects the lungs and digestive system and slowly decreases the effectiveness of its workings. Muscular dystrophy a disorder that can either start from birth or into late 40s depends on what type of genetic type of disease the person possesses. The disease slowly eats away at muscles and eventually leaving an individual struggling to move and slowly dying. PKU causes brain damage another genetic disorder can be detected from birth. Hereditary Hemochromatosis is apart of these genetic disorders and it is quite common “approximately 1 to 6 people in the United states”. This disease has no shown trait however it causes an iron overload in the body. The symptoms can be bad or not as effecting it is different with every person who has the disease. In all genetic disorders they aren’t common to all start from birth each can start from young to old and it is unknown to if a person has a disease until the symptoms

In life, every living organism has billions of cells, that contain genetic material which makes the organism what we are. In every cell, there is a nucleus that controls the DNA in one’s body, creating the person they are; from hair color, sex, eye color, skin tone, etc.. In many cases the DNA and the nucleus are mutation and error free creating a normal human being with no genetic disorders. On the contrary, in other case there are mutations and errors in the DNA and nucleus creating many genetic disorders; for example marfan syndrome. Marfan syndrome is a hereditary disorder, from a mutation, resulting in uncommon long and thin body parts, and also optical and cardiovascular defects.

“A genetic disease or disorder is the result of changes, or mutations, in an individual’s DNA. A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence that make up a gene” When a gene is mutated or is not present, its protein product can no longer carry out its normal function, and thus disorder or genetically inherited disease can occur.

The drawbacks of genetic testing are: A) when a person is believed to have a genetic disorder, he or she is prone to discrimination, prejudice or ridiculed from other people. Employers are hesitant in hiring these individuals because they are believed to pose a risk to other workers. Also, they are a liability because their disorders can compromise their job performance. B) Genetic testing is also shown to be related to certain diseases that are used by insurance industries to deny people coverage. Insurance companies believed that individuals with abnormal genetic disorders may generate potential higher costs that are not suitable for business. C) When the test result is positive it leads to depression, the victim is saddened to believe that they are carrying a harmful disease (Darden Business Publishing, 2004).

My aim is to unpack the various genetic mutations and weather their cause is due to mankind. A clear understanding of weather human development has enhanced the power of genetic mutations and natural selection or disabled it will be achieved.

One of the problems surrounding the science of genetics is its ability to cause changes in the