Artificial Selection and Medicine

These flashcards cover essential terms and definitions from the lecture on artificial selection and its implications in medicine.

Artificial Selection

The selective breeding of organisms by humans for specific characteristics.

Inbreeding

A selective breeding method where two individuals with identical or similar sets of alleles are crossed.

Linebreeding

Breeding that maintains relatedness to a particular ancestor of outstanding quality.

Outcrossing

Crossing individuals of the same breed with less closely related individuals.

Fecundity

The ability to produce an abundance of offspring.

Antipyretic

Medications used to reduce fever.

Pathogens

Microorganisms that can cause disease.

Hosts

Organisms that are affected by pathogens.

Senescence

The natural physical decline brought about by aging.

Rate of living hypothesis

Suggests that senescence is a consequence of accumulated physical wear and tear.

Mutation Accumulation Hypothesis

Senescence occurs because natural selection is not strong enough to purge deleterious mutations expressed late in life.

Antagonistic Pleiotropy Hypothesis

Senescence is due to the evolutionary accumulation of alleles that increase early life fitness but have negative effects later.

1918 Flu Pandemic

An unusually deadly influenza pandemic that infected 500 million people and killed 50-100 million.

Function of the epiglottis

Evolves to facilitate dual usage.

Influenza virus

Infects epithelial cells of the respiratory system.

Nausea

A condition that can eliminate toxins from the body.

Fever

A rise in body temperature that can help fight infection.