Evolution is a Gamer

A note on evolution. Without getting too off topic, I touched on evolution in the book. One issue I wanted to address, but it didn't quite fit, was the role of viruses in our own evolution. Our genomes carry viral DNA, many in the non-coding regions. Viruses are part of human evolution. How does interfering with the spread of viruses impact human evolution?

Consider wild animal populations. It is no secret that once the populations of various species become too large, a virus comes along to reduce their numbers. Humans are no different. We can expect ever greater and more lethal numbers of pandemic scenarios in our future because our population is too large. How does interfering with the spread of viruses impact human evolution, natural selection? If any exist, we may not achieve de novo mutational benefits of viral exposure.

This is a heavy topic. I'll leave you with this: Are we choosing who is fit to live or die? Should the decision be left to nature? Could we live with ourselves if we left it up to nature to decide?