Symposium: The Adaptable Phenotype

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Recent advances in evolutionary biology are forging new links between such fields as genetics, developmental biology, physiology and ecology. The proposed session will bring together a panel of anthropologists and non-anthropologists whose work exemplifies these current trends, showcasing their application to problems in human and primate evolution, human biological variation and adaptation, and health. The session will highlight the contributions of biological anthropology to this new synthesis, while providing opportunities for anthropologists to benefit from the insights and discoveries of colleagues working in related fields. To maximize exposure within the discipline, the session will be jointly-sponsored by the American Association of Physical Anthropologists and the Human Biology Association at meetings, to be held in Philadelphia in March of 2007. Intellectual Merits: Adaptation is a foundational concept that unites the sub-disciplines of biological anthropology. By highlighting cutting edge developments in the study of adaptation, the proposed session will be of great interest to members of all anthropological sub-disciplines while promoting collaboration both within anthropology and between anthropologists and researchers from related fields.Broader Impacts: Research on developmental plasticity is having a profound influence on public health and medicine. However, there have been few attempts to use comparative biology and evolutionary theory to help illuminate the origin and function of developmental and epigenetic processes as a basis for understanding their contribution to health and disease. The participants include biomedical researchers and advocates of the need for such a synthesis, which will help ensure that the session has impacts on applied fields like medicine and public health.