Human Involvement in Hazardous Evolution - Essay Example

Vinod Vedamani Vadakkot and Journalist Bangalore (INDIA) 23 November 2009 Human involvement in hazardous Evolution Though 'Evolution' can beaddressed as the experience of never ending change, it always had been a target of human influence. It all commenced with the power of reasoning in the human minds, distilling down as keys to explore better solutions for self centred comforts. Seldom do man realise that attempt to eradicate certain species, would trigger more dreadful evolution that put forth highly resistant and stronger variations of that beings.

According to Palumbi, one such example was the discovery of DDT a mile stone in revolution against pest that won Paul Muller the 1948 Nobel Prize, but astoundingly, resistant variants of insects that could survive DDT were found even before the Nobel Ceremony took place. Number of species that evolved resistance to a minimum of one insecticide had gone beyond 500 by the year 1990. It takes on an average 10 years for a species to develop resistance to a particular drug (1786, 7 September 2001, Science's Compass).

The evolution is caused by the change in traits of an insect that were susceptible to a particular insecticide. As a natural adaptation to the drug by genetic variation in its offspring, it supports the survival of that particular species. It appears as a genetic directional change to overcome the lethal influence of the drug. Thus evolution triggered by excessive human activities gives way to undesirable and more resistant type of insects that would put forth a new challenge that is much more difficult to overcome.

I believe human activities need to have controlled commercialisation to reduce the speed of such evolution. Work CitedPalumbi Stephen R, 'Humans as the Worlds Greatest Evolutionary Force'-1786, 7 September 2001, Science's Compass