Evolution Explosion: How Humans Cause Rapid Evolutionary Change

by Stephen R. Palumbi

The first thing that Harvard University biology professor Stephen Palumbi wants you to know is that evolution is a fact, not a theory. The second is this: evolution does not require eons and eons to make its effects manifest. By tinkering with genes and rewriting the laws of natural selection, we humans have lately been "accelerating the evolutionary game, especially among the species that live with us most intimately"--not our pets, that is to say, but the food we eat, the pests that share that food, and the diseases that visit us.

Almost all of this accelerated evolution--which, as in the pointed case of the human immunodeficiency virus, occurs faster than we can track it--is an unintended, accidental consequence of some well-intentioned effort to improve human life by sidestepping nature. One such consequence is the growing incidence of drug-resistant bacteria and viruses, which have mutated to survive antibiotic treatments to the point that postoperative infections from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus now pose a major threat to hospitals. Another is the arrival of pests that have evolved to survive pesticides of many kinds, pests that threaten crops around the world in a time of ever-increasing scarcity. All this, Palumbi writes, is "evolution with teeth," and such responses to our hapless prompting make humans the most potent evolutionary form the planet has ever known. Whether we can survive our own power to reshape the earth remains a question. But, Palumbi concludes, ideas evolve, too, so that we can hope against hope to think our way back to more or less normal cycles of evolutionary change. Well-written and provocative, his book makes for a useful start. --Gregory McNamee

Genres: Evolution, Nonfiction, Science

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful take on how we cause unwanted evolutionary change

It has become clear over the last few decades that evolution can take place much more rapidly than Darwin ever imagined. The evolution of the AIDS virus is a particularly compelling case in point, and one of the focal points of this engaging book about how our efforts to control our world can bring about unwanted evolutionary change over time periods measured not in millennia, but in weeks and months. Mostly it is microbial evolution that Harvard Professor of Biology Stephen Palumbi writes about, the AIDS virus, the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, staph and other infections, but also insects and plants, particularly the insects that eat crops and the plants we call weeds, and even fish. At the center of change is the "evolutionary engine" that is continually at work adjusting organisms to their environments. Change the environment of a creature and the creature changes to keep its fit, a never-ending phenomenon that frustrates our efforts to eradicate harmful pests and deadly diseases.

Palumbi shows how it is not enough to spray our fields of amber grain with pesticides because the pests will inevitably evolve to flourish in the new pesticide-filled environment. It is not enough to throw antibiotics at the bacteria that invade our bodies because they too will evolve to flourish. Our efforts to combat the scourges of field and body are now seen as just one half of the prey/predator, parasite/host phenomenon of co-evolution. As Palumbi phrases it, "The disease dance continues, turning to the evolutionary tune, and both players must step smartly." (p. 90) We must take the power of life forms to evolve rapidly into account and realize that they will react to our efforts. This is the evolutionary arms race, the "Red Queen" hypothesis, that keeps us (if we "step smartly" enough) and our enemies in the same place even though we are both running at full speed. This may be seen as a kind of cosmic joke at those who would find "progress" in evolution.

En route on bringing us up to speed on rapid evolutionary change, Palumbi sets some sort of record for the use of colorful language. There is some distraction as metaphors and analogies fly about like confetti at a wedding, but he is so clever that we forgive him. Some examples:

p 16: "...as unknown as the dreams of a sleeping infant."

p. 56: a trait (a recessive gene) is said to lie "dormant like thoughts on a Saturday morning."

p. 102: a virus is compared to a credit card.

p. 107: a typical viral attack on the immune system "has more plot twists than a soap opera."

p. 137: expressing the too-optimistic hopes of a five-year malaria eradication program: "...by then, surely malaria would be gone like the world's last car payment."

p. 240: "bad ideas" are compared to "anchovy daiquiris" that "live on only in a few people with fishy breath."

In short, this book colorfully illuminates one of the most significant conundrums of our time: despite our best pesticides, our most powerful antibiotics, our most clever and hopeful chemical cocktails, we are not winning the war against pests and disease. We are at best holding our own. The message of this book is perhaps we can do more if we take into account the power of the evolutionary engine, and finds ways to use it to our advantage.

--Dennis Littrell, author of “Understanding Evolution and Ourselves”

[Mike Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a granular yet accessible explanation of how human activity drives and accelerates non-human evolution.

[Nicole R · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very different than what I expected. It focused greatly on the influence of humans on the evolution of antibiotic resitance in bacteria, viruses (specifically HIV), and pesticide-resistant insects. The book started with an overview of evolution and short stories about the ground-breaking experiments in the field. The beginning sparked many great discussion questions, many of them having societal and ethical implications. The end of the book focused on evolution of fish size-at-maturity and how it has been influenced by commercial fishing, the change in migratory routes of humpback whales due to the whaling industry, and discussed whether the speed of human evolution has changed in reference to physical characteristics versus mental capacity.

However, I skimmed much of the middle. I felt that it dealt with concepts that are hard for the general public to grasp and often used technical language that confused me (and I have a science background!) The broadscale implications of the middle section was interesting and definitely pertinent but I found the details to be tedious.

I realy enjoyed the writing style of Palumbi. While some parts were a little too technical, he peppered fantastic similies and analogies throughout which often brought a smile to my face....and smiling during scientific reading is not something easily accomplished!

[Sir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Explosion is a little bit of a misnomer.


However, it did cause me to think about human's cause on things like the size of fish in shoals
and
I learned about triple drug therapy when treating AIDS
also
it points out one of my favorite hypocrisies that farmers in Iowa will treat their crops with new pesticides every few years because of a "theory" that they refuse to allow their schools to teach.

[Cecelia]

I read this in high school and didn't quite understand it, however I did find it interesting and engaging.

[Warren Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another view of the amazing phenomena of evolution. Adds deeper insight into mechanisms and dynamics of evolution.

[Pleuni Pennings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book. Very relevant for my work. Bit wordy at times.