Undergraduate Course: Ecology & Evolution of Infectious Disease (ZLGY10030)
Course Outline
| School | School of Biological Sciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course will examine the complex problems faced by both parasites and hosts during infections, examine the solutions found by natural selection, and consider how anti-infection interventions could benefit from incorporating principles from ecology and evolution. |
| Course description |
Evolutionary medicine is an important field that uses the principles of evolutionary biology and ecology to better understand, prevent, and treat infections. At the same time studies of disease can also advance basic knowledge in evolutionary biology and ecology. Pathogen evolution matters because it continually erodes biomedicine¿s efforts to control infectious diseases, but using evolutionary and ecological thinking to examine the life-and-death struggle pathogens face with hosts is a surprisingly new area of research.
Pathogens, microbes, viruses, parasites (hereafter referred to as parasites) are ubiquitous and the success of a parasitic lifestyle makes them major divers of host evolution. Hosts must combat, or cope with, their parasites using an arsenal of defences. This course will examine the complex problems faced by both parasites and hosts during infections and examine the solutions found by natural selection. By understanding how evolution and ecology can provide new and important insights, we will explore how evolutionary principles can inform human health, veterinary medicine, conservation, and agriculture.
We will focus on questions that are the foundations of "evolutionary medicine", including: (i) what strategies have parasites evolved to maximise their success and why are some more harmful than others? (ii) how and why do parasites manipulate host behaviours to their own ends? (iii) why do circadian rhythms dictate life or death outcomes during infection? (iv) how do parasites combat drugs and vaccines and are there novel ways to control infections? (v) why do hosts vary in how they cope with disease or spread infection? (vi) what drives the emergence of new diseases and host shifts, and (vii) how can ecology and evolution contribute to addressing the AMR crisis?
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Please do not enrol a student on this course without prior permission from the School of Biological Sciences. Please contact the Course Administrator in the first instance. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 21 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 7,
Formative Assessment Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
78 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% In-Course Assessment |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand and explain the evolutionary and ecological forces that shape host defences, parasite strategies, and how hosts and parasites co-evolve.
- Understand and describe why parasites vary in how they cope with life inside hosts, including the amount of harm they cause.
- 3. Understand and discuss how and why hosts vary in their ability to combat infection, and argue the benefits and drawbacks of novel ways to control infections.
- 4. Understand and describe how disease spreads and the implications for host shift.
- Debate the ethical challenges of evolutionary medicine.
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Reading List
Recommended:
Evolution in Health and Disease, Steven Stearns & Jacob Koella, OUP (2007)
Evolutionary Ecology of Parasites, Robert Poulin, Princeton (2007)
Evolutionary Parasitology, Paul Schmid-Hempel, OUP (2011)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
-Understand how to efficiently interrogate scientific literature
-Understand how to present papers in a journal club format
-Understand the peer review system and how scientific literature is produced
-Ability to debate ethical considerations and contradictory evidence
-Put paper presentation and critical discussion skills into practice
-Understand science communication
-Summarise a scientific study for a lay audience |
| Keywords | zoeeid |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Sarah Reece
Tel: (0131 6)50 5547
Email: Sarah.Reece@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Grace Lavender
Tel:
Email: glavende@ed.ac.uk |
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