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b'It\\u2019s hard to imagine the twists and turns of evolution that gave rise to Homo Sapiens. After all, it required geologic time, and the existence of many long-gone species that were once close relatives. That may be one reason why \\u2013 according to a recent poll \\u2013 one-third of all Americans reject the theory of evolution. They prefer to believe that humans and other living organisms have existed in their current form since the beginning of time.\\nBut if you\\u2019ve ever been sick, you\\u2019ve been the victim of evolution on a very observable time scale. Nasty viruses and bacteria take full advantage of evolutionary forces to adapt to new hosts. And they can do it quickly.\\nDiscover how comparing the deadly 1918 flu virus with variants today may help us prevent the next pandemic. Also, while antibiotic resistance is threatening to become a major health crisis, better understanding of how bacteria evolve their defenses against our drugs may help us out.\\nAnd the geneticist who sequenced the Neanderthal genome says yes, our hirsute neighbors co-mingled with humans.\\nIt\\u2019s Skeptic Check \\u2026 but don\\u2019t take our word for it!\\nGuests:\\n\\u2022\\xa0\\xa0Svante P\\xe4\\xe4bo \\u2013 Evolutionary geneticist, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, author of Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes\\n\\u2022\\xa0\\xa0Ann Reid \\u2013 \\u2013 Molecular biologist, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, Oakland, California\\n\\u2022\\xa0\\xa0Martin Blaser \\u2013 Microbiologist, New York University School of Medicine, member of the National Academy of Sciences, author of Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues\\n\\u2022\\xa0\\xa0Gautam Dantas \\u2013 Pathologist, immunologist, Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University, Saint Louis\\nFirst released March 31, 2014.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'