Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research

Evolutionary biology and anthropology suggest biome reconstitution as a necessary approach toward dealing with immune disorders

Parker, W. and Ollerton, J. (2013) Evolutionary biology and anthropology suggest biome reconstitution as a necessary approach toward dealing with immune disorders. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. 2013(1) 2050-6201.

Item Type: Article
Abstract: Industrialized society currently faces a wide range of non-infectious, immune-related pandemics. These pandemics include a variety of autoimmune, inflammatory and allergic diseases that are often associated with common environmental triggers and with genetic predisposition, but that do not occur in developing societies. In this review, we briefly present the idea that these pandemics are due to a limited number of evolutionary mismatches, the most damaging being ‘biome depletion’. This particular mismatch involves the loss of species from the ecosystem of the human body, the human biome, many of which have traditionally been classified as parasites, although some may actually be commensal or even mutualistic. This view, evolved from the ‘hygiene hypothesis’, encompasses a broad ecological and evolutionary perspective that considers host-symbiont relations as plastic, changing through ecological space and evolutionary time. Fortunately, this perspective provides a blueprint, termed 'biome reconstitution', for disease treatment and especially for disease prevention. Biome reconstitution includes the controlled and population-wide reintroduction (i.e. domestication) of selected species that have been all but eradicated from the human biome in industrialized society and holds great promise for the elimination of pandemics of allergic, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Uncontrolled Keywords: allergy, autism, autoimmunity, helminths, inflammation, microbiome, mutualism
Creators: Parker, William and Ollerton, Jeff
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: Faculties > Faculty of Arts, Science & Technology > Environmental Science
Research Centres > Environment Research Group
Date: 1 January 2013
Date Type: Publication
Journal or Publication Title: Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health
Volume: 2013
Number: 1
Language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eot008
ISSN: 2050-6201
Status: Published / Disseminated
Refereed: Yes
URI: http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/10741

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