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The Making of The Fittest: Natural Selection in Humans: at A Glance Film Guide

Natural selection and adaptation in humans can be seen through the example of sickle cell disease and malaria. Individuals with one copy of the sickle cell gene are resistant to malaria but do not get sickle cell disease, giving them a selective advantage where malaria is common. This shows how a genetic mutation can both cause a disease but also provide protection against an infectious disease through natural selection and adaptation.

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Beverly Carballo - Moguel
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120 views1 page

The Making of The Fittest: Natural Selection in Humans: at A Glance Film Guide

Natural selection and adaptation in humans can be seen through the example of sickle cell disease and malaria. Individuals with one copy of the sickle cell gene are resistant to malaria but do not get sickle cell disease, giving them a selective advantage where malaria is common. This shows how a genetic mutation can both cause a disease but also provide protection against an infectious disease through natural selection and adaptation.

Uploaded by

Beverly Carballo - Moguel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Making

The of theofFittest:
Making the Fittest:
The Making
Natural of the
Selection andFittest:
Adaptation
Natural
Natural Selection
Selection andin Adaptation
Humans TEACHER MATERIALS

AT A GLANCE FILM GUIDE


DESCRIPTION
Working in East Africa in the 1950s, Dr. Tony Allison was the first researcher to find a connection between the infectious
parasitic disease malaria and the genetic disease sickle cell anemia. His discovery is among the first and best-understood
examples of natural selection, in which the selective force, the adaptive mutation, and the critical molecules were all
identified—and all in humans.

KEY CONCEPTS
• Sickle cell disease (also known as sickle cell anemia) is a potentially deadly genetic disease, while malaria is a
potentially deadly infectious disease.
• Having two of the same alleles of a given gene means an individual is homozygous for that particular gene; if the
alleles are not identical, the individual is heterozygous for that gene.
• In areas where the malaria parasite is present, individuals who are homozygous for the sickle cell allele, who will get
sickle cell disease, AND individuals who are homozygous for the normal hemoglobin allele, who can contract malaria,
both have a selective disadvantage.
• In areas where the malaria parasite is present, individuals who are heterozygous for the sickle cell allele are at a
selective advantage because they are protected against malaria but do not get sickle cell disease.
• In the absence of malaria, there is selection against the sickle cell allele.
• Protection from malaria comes at the cost of more sickle cell disease in the population.
• A mutation that causes a genetic disease can also protect against an infectious disease.
• The sickle cell allele arose as a random mutation in the hemoglobin gene.

CURRICULUM AND TEXTBOOK CONNECTIONS


Text/Curriculum Chapter Sections/Curriculum Topics
Miller & Levine Biology (2010 Ed.) 13.3, 14.2, 17.1, 17.2
Campbell Biology (9th Ed.) 5.4, 14.4, 17.5, 23.1, 23.3, 23.4, 42.4
Common Core* *Will be updated when curriculum is announced
AP (2012-13 Standards) 1.A.1, 1.A.2, 3.C.1, 3.C.2, 4.C.1
IB (2009 Standards) 4.1, 4.3, 5.4, D.2

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED


Students should:
• have a basic understanding of natural selection, evolution, and adaptation.
• know that some traits provide organisms with a greater chance to survive and reproduce.
• be familiar with the scientific process of testing ideas with evidence.
• have a basic understanding of genetics, including inheritance patterns, the central dogma that DNA codes for
proteins, and that mutations are changes in the DNA sequence.

KEY REFERENCES
Allison, A.C. Mini-Series: Significant Contributions to Biological Chemistry Over the Past 125 Years: The Discovery of Resistance to Malaria of Sickle-cell
Zygotes. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education vol. 30, No 5, pp. 279-287 (2002).
Carroll, S.B. The Making of the Fittest (W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2006).
Additional references can be found in the in-depth classroom guide.

Published March 2012


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