Genes, Diseases and Culture

Recommended Prerequisites

The students should be able to read the bibliography in English.

Teaching Methods

The teaching methodology will include: i) lectures on the topics of the programme; ii) conference attendance, and iii) discussion of current controversies on media about genes, environment and health.

Learning Outcomes

The main objective of this course is to convey the notion that genetic and cultural systems are interconnected; culture places selective pressures on genes and genes places selective pressures on culture, and that this dynamic interaction has contributed to the evolution of the human body and behaviour. This approach, known as gene-culture co-evolution, has the potential to: i) understand the origin and distribution of disease susceptibility genes; ii) determine the evolutionary and cultural processes of how these diseases became common in certain groups of people, and iii) develop effective interventions to improve the health of individuals and populations.  

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. The impact of social and cultural environment on health; 

2. Genetics and health;

3. Genetic, environmental, and personality determinants of health risk behaviours;

4. Sex, gender, ethnicity, and health;

5. Embedded relationships among, behavioural, and genetic factors;

6. Animal models;

7. Study design and analysis of assessment of interactions;

8. Ethical, legal, and social implications .The International Declaration on human genetic data (32nd UNESCO General Conference-October 16, 2003).

Head Lecturer(s)

Maria Manuela Pratas Alvarez

Assessment Methods

Assessment B
Synthesis work: 100.0%

Assessment A
Exam: 100.0%

Bibliography

Jobling, M.A., Hurles, M.E.; Tyler-Smith, C. 2005. Human Evolutionary Genetics, Origins, Peoples & Disease. Garland Science, New York.

Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment: Moving Beyond the Nature/Nurture Debate http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11693.html

Ross CT, Richerson PJ (2014). New frontiers in the study of human cultural and genetic evolution. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2014 (29):103-9. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2014.08.014