The good genes sexual selection controversy: Does the Handicap Principal apply to modern humans?

2017年，该应用程序的早期版本收到 根据提案的可取之处，所有类别的投资都是“强劲的”，而“适度的”则是。作为一名 结果，我获得了为期两年的NSERC发现发展补助金(DDG)，以促进 该提案朝着全额供资的方向发展。自那以后，我收集了一项大型的初步研究，探索免疫的作用 预测男性第二性征的标志物。我已经发表了这项提议的基础工作(进化和人类行为，IF=3.62) 唾液免疫球蛋白-A与声音男子气概有关。我还通过以下方式改进了应用程序 提出了两项新的研究，并将基因-免疫标记物相互作用的探索纳入预测 第二性征。我还利用我的DDG资金接受了培训 为了最大限度地提高未来的资金使用效率，我对这项重要的工作表现出了敬业精神。 能够识别健康配偶的祖先处于一个 大量的繁殖优势。当然，免疫功能不能 直接观察到的。相反，好基因的性选择假说提出 个体依靠形态线索来告知潜在配偶的 免疫能力(Sugiyama，2005)。反过来，有机体可能会争夺配偶。 通过宣传他们的“好基因”，这些基因在免疫上是昂贵的 生产(Zahavi，1975)。这种免疫能力障碍假说(ICHH)是一种 在进化生物学中被引用最多的假说之一。还没有 令人不安的是，支持第二性征和免疫力之间联系的经验证据 机能薄弱(汉密尔顿，尤其是在人类中。拟议的研究计划解决了 通过系统地评估：1)第二性特征(例如，男性的声音和面部的男子气概；身高)是否发展起来代价高昂 确实表明了潜在的免疫活性在基因上 (主要组织相容性)或功能性(先天和获得性免疫)水平，2)是否具有女性特有的第二性特征(声音和面部 女性气质、乳房大小和形状)影响免疫能力、生育能力或两者兼而有之 青春期前的免疫功能是否预测性激素介导的第二性征的发育，父母的第二性征是否真的预测后代 免疫能力，以及4)女性对男性吸引力的感知是否影响了她们潜在的免疫能力。 总而言之，这项雄心勃勃但可行性很高的计划将首次全面检查与突出的人类第二性特征有关的免疫功能的各种多水平标记物。这将是第一次在人类身上进行大规模的非物质文化遗产测试。这些研究的证据将通过支持或质疑当代进化论中被最广泛引用但证据不足的假说之一，改变该领域对人类性别选择的理解。

In 2017, an early version of this application received 'strong' across all categories and 'moderate' under merit of the proposal. As a result, I was awarded a two-year NSERC Discovery Development Grant (DDG) to foster development of the proposal toward full funding. I have since collected a large pilot study exploring the role of immune markers in predicting male secondary sexual characteristics. I have published groundwork for this proposal (Evolution and Human Behavior, IF=3.62) linking salivary Immunoglobulin-A to vocal masculinity. I have also refined the application by proposing two new studies and incorporating the exploration of gene-immune marker interactions in predicting secondary sex characteristics. I also utilised my DDG funding to become trained in phlebotomy in order to maximise future funding use efficiency, highlighting my dedication to this important body of work. Ancestors who could identify healthy mates were at a substantial reproductive advantage. Of course, immune function cannot be observed directly. Rather, good-genes sexual selection hypothesis proposes that individuals rely on morphological cues to inform a potential mate's immunocompetence (Sugiyama, 2005). In turn, organisms might compete for mates by advertising their 'good genes' via traits that are immunologically-costly to produce (Zahavi, 1975). This immunocompetence handicap hypothesis (ICHH) is one of the most cited hypotheses in all of evolutionary biology. Yet disconcertingly, empirical evidence supporting a link between secondary sex characteristics and immune function is weak (Hamilton especially among humans. The proposed program of research addresses this fundamental gap in knowledge by systematically assessing: 1) whether putative costly-to-develop secondary sex characteristics (e.g., male vocal and facial masculinity; height) do indeed indicate underlying immunocompetence at either the genetic (major histocompatability) or functional (innate and adaptive immunity) levels, 2) whether uniquely female secondary sexual traits (vocal and facial femininity, breast size and shape) inform immunocompetence, fertility, or both, 3) whether immune function pre-puberty predicts sex hormone-mediated development of secondary sex traits, whether parental secondary sexual characteristics actually predict offspring immunocompetence, and 4) whether female perceptions of male attractiveness inform their underlying immunocompetence. Together, this ambitious yet high-feasibility program will provide the first comprehensive examination of diverse multi-level markers of immune function in relation to prominent human secondary sexual characteristics. It will be the first large-scale test of the ICHH in humans. Evidence from these studies will transform the field's understanding of sexual selection in humans by either supporting or calling into question one of the most widely-cited, yet poorly evidenced, hypotheses in contemporary evolutionary theory.