# Cancer Shows That Evolution Does Not Mean Progress by Itai Yanai > “Evolution is sometimes confused with progress. From the perspective of a cancer patient, somatic evolution certainly isn’t. Rather, as cancer develops, changes in the composition of the body’s gene pool occur: the very definition of evolution. The notion that cancer is evolution is not an analogy, but a matter of fact characterization of the process. It is humbling indeed that evolution is not only an ancient process that explains our existence on this planet, but is also constantly happening within our bodies—within our soma.” > **— Itai Yanai**, *2017 Edge Annual Question, response passage* ## Sources and Context - **Original Edge response:** [Somatic Evolution — Itai Yanai](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/27161) — a verbatim passage from Itai Yanai's 2017 Annual Question response, expressing the author's position at the time. The linked response supplies its surrounding context. - **Local archival entry:** [[research/Edge 2017 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2017 Full Quotation Curation]] (EDGE2017-073). ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Synthetic Cambrian Explosion as a Technological Speciation Event|The Synthetic Cambrian Explosion as a Technological Speciation Event]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Evolutionary Dynamics|Evolutionary Dynamics]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Evolution is sometimes confused with progress. From the perspective of a cancer patient, somatic evolution certainly isn’t. Rather, as cancer develops, changes in the composition of the body’s gene pool occur: the very definition of evolution. The notion that cancer is evolution is not an analogy, but a matter of fact characterization of the process. It is humbling indeed that evolution is not only an ancient process that explains our existence on this planet, but is also constantly happening within our bodies—within our soma.” — Itai Yanai, 2017 Edge Annual Question https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-itai-yanai-cancer-shows-that-evolution-not ```