. ▁Thus ▁we ▁accum ulate ▁dam ages ▁to ▁our ▁body ▁as ▁we ▁age ▁and ▁har bour ▁late - ons et ▁dise ases ▁such ▁as ▁Hun ting ton ' s ▁disease ▁which ▁have ▁minimum ▁impact ▁on ▁the ▁evolution ary ▁success ▁of ▁our ▁gene ▁over l ords . ▁ ▁Gen es , ▁Daw kins ▁arg ues , ▁are ▁ind ifferent ▁to ▁who ▁or ▁what ▁gets ▁hurt , ▁so ▁long ▁as ▁DNA ▁is ▁passed ▁on . ▁He ▁con cludes : ▁▁ ▁During ▁the ▁minute ▁it ▁takes ▁me ▁to ▁compose ▁this ▁sentence , ▁thousands ▁of ▁animals ▁are ▁being ▁e aten ▁alive ; ▁others ▁are ▁running ▁for ▁their ▁lives , ▁wh imper ing ▁with ▁fear ; ▁others ▁are ▁being ▁slowly ▁dev oured ▁from ▁within ▁by ▁r asp ing ▁par as ites ; ▁thousands ▁of ▁all ▁kinds ▁are ▁dying ▁from ▁star v ation , ▁th irst ▁and ▁disease . ▁It ▁must ▁be ▁so . ▁If ▁there ▁is ▁ever ▁a ▁time ▁of ▁plenty , ▁this ▁very ▁fact ▁will ▁automatically ▁lead ▁to ▁an ▁increase ▁in ▁population ▁until ▁the ▁natural ▁state ▁of ▁star v ation ▁and ▁mis ery ▁is ▁restored . ▁ ▁The ▁rep lication ▁bomb ▁▁ ▁In ▁the ▁last ▁chapter , ▁Daw kins ▁cons iders ▁how ▁Dar win ian ▁evolution ▁may ▁look ▁outside ▁planet ▁Earth . ▁It ▁seems ▁that ▁the ▁trigger ▁event ▁would ▁be ▁the ▁sp ont aneous ▁ar ising ▁of ▁self - rep lic ating ▁entities ▁or ▁the ▁phenomen on ▁of ▁her ed ity . ▁Once ▁this ▁process ▁is ▁initi ated , ▁it ▁will ▁launch ▁an ▁explos ion ▁of ▁rep