Mismatch: Why our world no longer fits our bodies

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OUP Oxford, Sep 29, 2006 - Science - 304 pages
We have built a world that no longer fits our bodies. Our genes - selected through our evolution - and the many processes by which our development is tuned within the womb, limit our capacity to adapt to the modern urban lifestyle. There is a mismatch. We are seeing the impact of this mismatch in the explosion of diabetes, heart disease and obesity. But it also has consequences in earlier puberty and old age. Bringing together the latest scientific research in evolutionary biology, development, medicine, anthropology and ecology, Peter Gluckman and Mark Hanson, both leading medical scientists, argue that many of our problems as modern-day humans can be understood in terms of this fundamental and growing mismatch. It is an insight that we ignore at our peril.

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About the author (2006)

Professor Peter Gluckman FRS is University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Paediatric and Perinatal Biology, Director of the Liggins Institute for Medical Research and Director of the National Research Centre for Growth and Development at the University of Auckland and Honorary Professor at the University of Southampton. He has received numerous international awards, including New Zealand's premier science award, the Rutherford Medal. Professor Mark Hanson is one of the UK's leadingperinatal scientists. He is British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiovascular Science, Director of the Centre for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease at the University of Southampton, an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and Honorary Professor at the University of Auckland. He is an exhibited artist with an interest in the conjunction between art and science. Both authors have published many scientific papers and reviews, including articles written together. They recently published iThe Fetal Matrix: Evolution, Development and Disease/i (CUP, 2004).

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