Main content
Course: American Museum of Natural History > Unit 3
Lesson 3: Evolution and human health and well-being (American Museum of Natural History)- How evolution saves lives and promotes prosperity
- Solving problems with phylogenetic trees
- Conservation genetics and conserving biodiversity
- Genes and health—moving beyond race
- Malaria—natural selection and new medicine
- Our balancing act with viruses
- What is a virus?
- Quiz: Evolution and human health
- Exploration Questions: Evolution and human health
- Answers to Exploration Questions: Evolution and human health
© 2024 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
Malaria—natural selection and new medicine
The malaria parasite and its human hosts are locked in an evolutionary arms race. The parasite kills more than a million people every year. Humans fight back with gradual genetic adaptation and better drugs. The parasite then adapts to evolve drug resistance. Watch as immunologist Dyann Wirth and her team at the Harvard School of Public Health study the evolutionary adaptations of Senegalese people and their malaria parasites in the field and in the lab. The scientists are seeking signs of natural selection at a molecular level to help fight malaria in a smarter way. Created by American Museum of Natural History.
Want to join the conversation?
- @7:04she states: "vaccines to represent those molecules that are under the greatest selection from the immune system." How does a vaccine represent a molecule? Why should it represent a molecule that is under selection from the immune system?(3 votes)
- I am incredibly squeamish for blood so...This was hard to watch(1 vote)