Survival Of The Sickest Essay

New York Times Bestseller Novel Survival of The Sickest by Dr. Sharon Moalem focuses on the idea that certain illness which we have inherited today, may have been the key to survival in past. Dr. Sharon Moalem a neurologist and an evolutionary biologist gives various examples on different traits and illness such as Hemochromatosis and the process of aging as a tool which allowed our ancestors to survive and successful further the generation.

Hemochromatosis as described in the novel is a build up of iron in one’s body, which eventually spreads and causes many different organs to fail. Hemochromatosis disorder is still common in today’s society due to its positive impact in the past. Dr. Moalem explains how build up of iron prevented many
Moalem moves further along the novel and explains the role of Diabetes and its impact on our evolution. Diabetes is a disease that is caused by a build up of sugar in one’s body due to the lack of hormone known as insulin. The increased percentage of sugar has allowed individuals in the colder climate to stay warm. Dr. Moalem has mentioned that it is believed that Diabetes could have been developed during the last ice age. Build up of sugar prevents blood from freezing, frozen bloods forms into crystals that penetrate your organs and kill you. This is the reason why many Europeans descends are known to have diabetes, due to the excess build up of sugar their ancestors were able to survive the cold winter nights and pass along this trait to their future generation.

The author ends the novel with describing the importance of aging. Aging is a process that occurs when a cell reaches the end of a division and is on track of cell death. Dying of a cell is showcasing the end of an individual’s life. If cell continued to divide this would lead to cancer, which is a disease that causes a cell to continuously divide and produce numerous amount of cells that are out of control. Nature selection prevents an individual