Two categories of evolutionary challenges result from escalating human impacts on the planet. The first arises from cancers, pathogens and pests that evolve too quickly, and the second from the inability of many valued species to adapt quickly enough. Applied evolutionary biology provides a suite of strategies to address these global challenges that threaten human health, food security, and biodiversity.

The use of insecticide treated nets (ITNs), and subsequently the new generation of long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs), has been a core malaria prevention strategy for more than two decades, and until 2010, distribution of LLINs targeted biologically vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and children aged less than 5 years.

Following a decade of gains in malaria control, two divergent prospects are emerging: malaria elimination in many endemic countries, and spreading artemisinin-resistant P. falciparum undermining these gains. The potential benefits of malaria elimination are substantial, including the direct burden averted and economic growth through improved educational attainment and productivity; these gains were estimated recently to far outstrip the costs required to achieve them.