Part 1 | Darwinian Dentistry: An Evolutionary Perspective on the Etiology of Malocclusion

With their 1991 publication in The Quarterly Review of Biology, The Dawn of Darwinian Medicine,¹ George C. Williams, an evolutionary biologist, and Randolph Nesse, an evolutionary psychiatrist, essentially established the foundation for a new subject to be incorporated into the medical school curriculum; Evolutionary Medicine (EM), also referred to as Darwinian Medicine, are terms used to describe a new paradigm in medical education that attempts to understand modern diseases through application of evolutionary theory and human ecology.

Over the past 20 years, the subject of Evolutionary Medicine has been gradually emerging across North America and is now quickly growing throughout Europe and other parts of the world into a legitimate academic discipline. Presently, there are several textbooks, peer-reviewed scientific articles, websites and blogs, major international symposiums, medical school curriculum modules and advanced post-graduate courses of study, all dedicated to this exciting new field of scientific inquiry (Appendix- The Evolutionary & Medicine Review). It appears EM is here to stay for, the medical profession…. but what about the rest of the allied-health professions?