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Feb

12

How Evolution Ruined Darwin Day!

Filed Under Darwin Day

Darwin and a Rhinovirus Toy!

I caught a Rhinovirus (a cold) on Monday.  Darwin and his “Evolution” ruined Darwin day for me!  Since I’m sick, and feeling crappy is very much on my mind, I’m writing about viruses and Evolution for my Darwin Day Post.  Nothing too scientific mind you, just the mad ramblings of my semi-conscious mind.

Charles Darwin didn’t know about viruses.  The first virus was discovered in 1899,  40 years after Darwin published Origin of Species.  Viruses were never actually seen until the invention of the electron microscope.  Darwin didn’t know about viruses, but evolution affects them nonetheless!

I’d love to lay out a detailed overview of the evolution of Rhinoviruses, but I don’t really have the expertise, so I’m just going talk about them in a very broad sense.  

Rhinoviruses are very diverse, with over 100 known serotypes.  They mutate like crazy, with an average of 1 copying error per replication.  Another fascinating aspect of Rhinovirus is its weakness.  Unlike a lot of viruses, including some fairly close relatives, Rhinovirus is not deadly.  It causes discomfort (like I’m experiencing now), and can lead to complications, but it doesn’t kill on its own.

Rhinovirus is weak, but its weakness is an evolutionary advantage.  People with a cold are not stuck in bed for the duration, so they can walk around, sneeze, cough, and generally do a very good job of spreading the virus around.  This makes Rhinovirus one of the most common symptom-causing viruses in the world.

It doesn’t matter where Rhinovirus lies on a list of most deadly viruses.  One of the worst misconceptions about evolution is that something needs to be a vicious killer to be successful.  What really matters is how effective it is in reproducing and spreading.  In this way, Rhinovirus is much more successful than say, Ebola, which is highly virulent but kills it’s hosts before they can move very far.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t evolutionary advantages for more deadly viruses.  A good example is Malaria.  Because Malaria is spread by mosquito, not by coughing and sneezing, keeping the host mobile gives no advantage.  In fact, if the human host is incapacitated, it is easier for the mosquitoes to move in and bite!  Malaria can increase its numbers rapidly at the expense of the human host, without having to worry about limiting its own expansion.

All this seems to have very little to do with Darwin, as he didn’t even know about viruses.  Since today is his 200th birthday, I should probably talk more about his role in the the evolution saga.

Darwin didn’t “invent” Evolution.  It was going on long before Darwin discovered it.  In fact, it would be much more accurate to say that Evolution “invented” Darwin!  If he had never lived, Rhinovirus would still be an evolutionary success, and I would still have an immune system to keep it at bay.  Evolution would almost certainly have been discovered without him, and it’s important to remember that our discoveries about evolution did not begin, and certainly didn’t end, with Darwin.

One could say that evolution has evolved a fair bit in the last 150 years.  Scientists have made a long line of discoveries that have refined our knowledge.  Things like basic heredity and genetics came after Darwin Published Origin of Species.  It’s a credit to Darwin’s theory that it has been greatly refined, but never overthrown.  Modern evolution is not Darwinian evolution, but Darwin certainly set the tone for its development.

Of course, Rhinovirus’ Evolutionary win is my loss, at least in terms of my productivity for the next few days.  And if I’m blaming Evolution for ruining my Darwin Day, I also have to thank it for my immune system, without which the common cold would be deadly.  And then I have to thank Evolution for… how can I put this… evolving me.

Darwin didn’t know about viruses, but  he was clearly onto something.  That something turned out to be a critical step forward in understanding ourselves and the world we inhabit.  And that’s something I can respect, even if it did ruin my day.

Happy Darwin Day!

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinovirus
http://www.jsmf.org/grants/d.php?id=2007010
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/6/text_pop/l_016_06.html

Comments

2 Responses to “How Evolution Ruined Darwin Day!”

  1. Phyl on February 12th, 2009 4:27 pm

    Excellent job, considering the evolutionary swamp you were swimming in today. :)

  2. Raptor Lewis on February 12th, 2009 7:49 pm

    Sorry to hear you’re sick, man. Everybody seems to be getting sick lately. :( Hope you feel well soon. And, sorry Darwin Day is ruined for you.

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