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The Evolution of Imperfection

The Science of Why We Aren’t and Can’t Be Perfect

Laurence D. Hurst

$49.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English
Princeton University Press
01 August 2025
How understanding our genetic imperfections can change our view of evolution and enrich what it means to be human

If we start with the presumption that evolution is a constantly improving process, some aspects of our evolution just do not make sense. We have a high rate of genetic diseases, for example, and much of our DNA seems to be pointless. In The Evolution of Imperfection, Laurence Hurst explores our apparently rotten genetic luck.

Hurst, a leading authority on evolution and genetics, argues that our evolutionary imperfections proceed directly from two features: the difficulties of pregnancy and the fact that historically there are relatively few of us. In pregnancy, natural selection can favor chromosomes that kill embryos in species (including ours) that continuously receive resources from the mother. Most fertilised eggs don't make it, and incompatibilities between the fetus and mother can lead to lethal disorders of pregnancy. The historically small population size enhances the role of chance, which in turn leads to both accumulation of unnecessary DNA and more mutation.

So what can save us? One answer may lie in genetic medicine, which has given us therapies that make killer conditions preventable and even curable.

Hurst suggests that our seeming imperfections could be the key to a new way to understand evolution itself. Looking at circumstances that seem to defy explanation, we might come to a richer understanding of how evolution really works, and what it means to be human.
By:  
Imprint:   Princeton University Press
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 235mm,  Width: 156mm, 
ISBN:   9780691247397
ISBN 10:   0691247390
Pages:   288
Publication Date:  
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Primary ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming

Laurence D. Hurst is professor of evolutionary genetics in the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath. His research on how genetic systems evolve, and the application of this knowledge to medicine, has been recognised with national and international prizes and fellowships.

Reviews for The Evolution of Imperfection: The Science of Why We Aren’t and Can’t Be Perfect

""[The Evolution of Imperfection] is accessible for interested lay readers, offering a nice round-up of the history of and current scientific understandings of evolution."" * Library Journal * ""Stimulating. . . . Hurst excels at teasing out the counterintuitive implications of natural selection."" * Publishers Weekly *


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