ICFRC: The Co-Evolution of Humans and Pathogens

Pathogens and parasites have evolved in intimate relationships with their human hosts, and have often played central roles in human population history. Notably, human pathogens evolve with surprising rapidity, quickly exploiting novel niches introduced by shifts in human behavior or ecology. In this talk, Drew Kitchen presents recent work that investigates the connection between pathogen/parasite evolution and the history of their human host populations. He closes with a discussion of how human parasites, such as lice, may colonize new niches introduced by shifts in human behavior, and in so doing, become unique markers of evolutionary history.

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