Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease

by Sharon Moalem

Constant company is pretty much the status quo for

one bad meal does no harm, one good meal does not benefit

one organism’s survival is another organism’s death sentence,

food chain

Evolution is what happens when history and change are in rhyme.

Cancer cells require iron to grow,

New research indicates that the more iron in a given population, the more vulnerable that population is to the plague.

“Iron status mirror[ed] mortality.

founder effect. When small populations establish colonies in unpopulated or secluded areas, there is significant inbreeding for generations.

hemochromatosis helped that first generation of carriers to survive the plague, multiplying its frequency across the population

Type 1 diabetes, the cells that fall victim to this biological friendly fire are the precise cells in the pancreas responsible for insulin production. No insulin