The evolutionary process of natural selection helps the fittest to survive. In the past 18 months, we’ve all become acutely aware of this relentless process as it played out in the coronavirus – spawning fitter variants at a rate that is hard to keep up with.

But there is another, lesser-known evolutionary process called “unconscious selection”. This is where human interactions with the environment have accidental evolutionary effects. An example is delaying the second COVID jab by a couple of months. A single dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca can have an effectiveness against the now-dominant delta variant of as low as 33.5%. This means, in delaying the second dose, the UK government may have inadvertently given delta a window of opportunity to spread and mutate, according to an expert in evolution and global health.

It would be nice to think that a simple change to our diets could protect us from COVID-19, which is perhaps why there was so much excitement when a recent study found a link between a plant-based diet and a lower risk of getting moderate-to-severe COVID. But, if it sounds too good to be true …