Updates of DNA Variations in Evolution and Human Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, progress in decoding the human genome has enabled us to understand genetic architecture and heritability, which provides valuable insights into human diseases. However, interpreting the relationships between genotypes/phenotypes is becoming more complex than expected, leading to the need for (r)evolutionary thinking. DNA variations are crucial for the evolutive process, with most of them producing traits that confer neither an advantage nor disadvantage, and the process of natural selection defines those more suited to a particular environment. Nonetheless, if the environment changes, then an evolutionary mismatch emerges, creating maladaptive conditions. This accounts for the prevalence of many common diseases in modern populations, such as obesity, diabetes, or heart disease affected by lifestyle changes and diet. Therefore, evolutionary medicine, studying modern diseases from an evolutionary perspective, has the power to identify novel mechanisms, pathways, and networks, enlightening us on how and why we get sick.

This Special Issue aims to provide “Updates on DNA Variations in Evolution and Human Diseases”; we welcome original articles, new methods, and reviews related to this issue topic, and we look forward to your valuable contributions.

“We must retrace steps already done, to repeat them, and to paint alongside new ways. You have to start the trip again. All the time.” (Jose Saramago)

Dr. Laura Crisponi
Dr. Mara Marongiu
Dr. Manuela Uda
Guest Editors

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