Summary
This perspective piece synthesises the historical development and contemporary evidence for the hypothesis that genetic diversity confers disease resistance across host populations. Drawing on overlapping frameworks from evolutionary biology, agriculture, and conservation, Gibson examines where this principle has been applied and proposes that monitoring, preserving, and augmenting genetic diversity represents a key evolutionarily informed strategy for buffering wild, domesticated, and human populations against future disease outbreaks.
UK applicability
The findings have potential relevance to UK agricultural policy and disease management strategies, particularly for livestock breeding programmes and crop diversity conservation. The principles may inform approaches to biosecurity and resilience-building in both livestock and crop production systems.
Key measures
Disease severity and parasitism rates in relation to host genetic diversity; experimental tests of the diversity–disease relationship
Outcomes reported
The paper synthesises evidence demonstrating that genetically homogeneous host populations experience more severe parasitism than genetically diverse populations. It examines applications of this principle across wild, domesticated, and human populations, and proposes strategies for leveraging genetic diversity to mitigate future disease outbreaks.
Topic tags
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