By Elie Dolgin

Humans are the products of millions of years of evolution through natural selection. Yet when it comes to the treatment of disease, physicians and biomedical researchers have long neglected our evolutionary pasts. Now, a number of research institutes are attempting to remedy that by launching new research centers dedicated to the burgeoning field of evolutionary medicine.

The newly minted Center for Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich opened its doors in late October. Backed by a $10 million donation from the private Zurich-based Mäxi Foundation, the center will focus on analyzing ancient DNA and bones as well as dissecting microevolutionary changes in human morphology to better understand modern diseases. “It’s medical research, but it’s looking from an evolutionary perspective,” says the center’s director Frank Rühli, a physician who has studied ailments such as atherosclerosis in Egyptian mummies.

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