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A bit of a weird question: Can modern medicine be a threat to humanity long-term by greatly reducing effects of natural selection? (lemmy.sdf.org)

submitted 5 months ago by user224@lemmy.sdf.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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OK, I hope my question doesn't get misunderstood, I can see how that could happen.
Just a product of overthinking.

Idea is that we can live fairly easily even with some diseases/disorders which could be-life threatening. Many of these are hereditary.
Since modern medicine increases our survival capabilities, the "weaker" individuals can also survive and have offsprings that could potentially inherit these weaknesses, and as this continues it could perhaps leave nearly all people suffering from such conditions further into future.

Does that sound like a realistic scenario? (Assuming we don't destroy ourselves along with the environment first...)

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[-] Contramuffin@lemmy.world 31 points 5 months ago

Hmm, that's an interesting question. I'm not an evolutionary biologist but I am a biologist (more specifically, a microbiogist).

The crux of the misunderstanding, I think, is that the definition of what counts as advantageous or "good" has changed over time. Very rapidly, in fact. The reason many diseases are still around today is because many genetic diseases offered a very real advantage in the past. The example that is often given is malaria and sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell anemia gives resistance to malaria, which is why it's so prevalent in populations that historically have high incidence of malaria.

Natural selection doesn't improve anything, it just makes animals more fit for their exact, immediate situation. That also means that it is very possible (and in fact, very likely) that the traits that we today associate with health will become disadvantageous in the future.

If we remember that natural selection isn't trying to push humanity towards any goal, enlightenment, or good health, it becomes easier to acknowledge and accept that we can and should interfere with natural selection

[-] shasta@lemm.ee 4 points 5 months ago

the traits that we today associate with health will become disadvantageous in the future.

Yeah I can think of a few, like aging. 10000 years from now kids will be saying, "wow, those poor unevolved savages lived such short lives and only really got to enjoy the first little bit of it before they started falling apart. They even had genetic engineering at the time! Imagine how many people would be alive today if they hadn't been so scared to edit their genes to prevent aging." Then their teacher would come over and explain that it wasn't so easy at the time. There were still so many other problems they had to solve and related genes that need to be modified to avoid undesirable consequences, and let's get back on topic: how many planets fall under the rule of the galactic empire including our own planet Urth?

this post was submitted on 18 May 2024

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