Minimally invasive biomarkers in human and non‐human primate evolutionary biology: Tools for understanding variation and adaptation

Abstract

Background: The use of minimally invasive biomarkers (MIBsphysiological biomarkers obtained from minimally invasive sample types) has expanded rapidly in science and medicine over the past several decades. The MIB approach is a methodological strength in the field of human and non-human primate evolutionary biology (HEB). Among humans and our closest relatives, MIBs provide unique opportunities to document phenotypic variation and to operationalize evolutionary hypotheses.Aims: This paper overviews the use of MIBs in HEB. Our objectives are to (1) highlight key research topics which successfully implement MIBs,(2) identify promising yet under-investigated areas of MIB application, and(3) discuss current challenges in MIB research, with suggestions for advancing the field.

How prenatal cortisol levels relate to grandmother‐mother relationships among a cohort of Latina women

“…Also, cortisol has a diurnally variable production schedule, so, by limiting our sample collection to mornings, we capture a similar phase of the diurnal pattern. Benefits of urinary cortisol sampling are the minimally‐invasive and self‐administered nature of sample collection (Urlacher et al, 2022).…”

“…Our results utilizing the PSS scale should be interpreted with caution because of low Cronbach's alpha. The most integrated measure of cortisol available for this study was urinary, which summarizes across several hours (Sarkar et al, 2013), and future studies should consider measuring cortisol from other matrices with longer-term integration, for example, hair (Urlacher et al, 2022). Our morning urine collection was not strictly first morning void (FMV), which could potentially integrate across more hours; however, women in early pregnancy void much more often throughout the night than nonpregnant peers (Brown, 1978), so the benefits of FMV are attenuated.…”

Minimally invasive biomarkers in human population biology research, part 2: An introduction to the special issue

“…First, biomarkers should be targeted for validation that are likely to be the most useful tools in research questions and also that these biomarker targets are likely to be adaptable for use with minimally invasive samples. Approaches such as those by Devlin et al (2022) on BTMs and by Urlacher et al (2022) on biomarkers useful in human evolutionary biology research provide excellent examples of this approach. Once target biomarkers are identified, researchers should follow a rigorous process of assay development that includes evaluation, modification, and validation and leads to robust and accurate methods (see e.g., Eick et al, 2019).…”

“…One critical take home message is the need for future research that pays more careful attention to the standardization of data collectionparticularly in the timing of sample collection in the first trimester-since this standardization in collection and analytical methods will allow for a better understanding of the factors that can negatively affect pregnancy outcomes. Urlacher et al (2022) provide an expansive, yet also accessible and well-focused, paper reviewing how minimally invasively collected biomarkers have been usedand potentially can be used in the future-in human evolutionary biology. With a scope that includes humans and nonhuman primates, the authors review and provide detailed examples of how these biomarkers have been utilized to document phenotypic variation and test evolutionary hypotheses.…”

“…Urlacher et al (2022) provide an expansive, yet also accessible and well‐focused, paper reviewing how minimally invasively collected biomarkers have been used—and potentially can be used in the future—in human evolutionary biology. With a scope that includes humans and nonhuman primates, the authors review and provide detailed examples of how these biomarkers have been utilized to document phenotypic variation and test evolutionary hypotheses.…”