May 22, 2016 07:12 PM
http://nautil.us/blog/epigenetics-has-be...ashionable
EXCERPT: For the past few years, social scientists have been buzzing over a particular topic in molecular biology—gene regulation. [...] They often give the impression that this particular area of biology stands poised to solve huge mysteries of human development. While that conclusion may be appropriate in fields like medicine and other related disciplines, a number of enthusiasts have openly speculated about its ability to also explain lingering social ills like poverty, crime, and obesity. The trouble is, this last bit isn’t really a feeling shared by many of the genetics experts.
Social scientists’ excitement surrounds what we can refer to broadly as transgenerational epigenetics. To understand why social scientists have become enamored with it, we must first consider basic genetics. [...]
[...] Consider a landmark study, conducted in 2004 and published in Nature Neuroscience, which practically started the conversation over transgenerational epigenetics. The authors analyzed whether different nurturing styles might influence stress responses in offspring. The findings suggested that different types of nurturing from participant moms impinged on how babies developed by directly tinkering with their gene expression. Let that sink in: Our experiences—such as how our parents treat us—may alter how our genes are expressed, thus impacting our physiological and psychological development. The weightier implication, though, was that these epigenetic “markers” in the genome might also be transmitted to future generations (thus, the “transgenerational” moniker).
That’s right, the most compelling evidence for transgenerational epigenetics is in rodents, not humans.
Many social scientists felt vindicated by the findings, assuming it represented a triumph of the “social” over the “biological.” But the true nature of findings like these should inspire caution. In a new afterword published this year to his tour de force from 2002, The Blank Slate, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker reminds us why we shouldn’t carelessly fling ourselves on the transgenerational epigenetics bandwagon...
EXCERPT: For the past few years, social scientists have been buzzing over a particular topic in molecular biology—gene regulation. [...] They often give the impression that this particular area of biology stands poised to solve huge mysteries of human development. While that conclusion may be appropriate in fields like medicine and other related disciplines, a number of enthusiasts have openly speculated about its ability to also explain lingering social ills like poverty, crime, and obesity. The trouble is, this last bit isn’t really a feeling shared by many of the genetics experts.
Social scientists’ excitement surrounds what we can refer to broadly as transgenerational epigenetics. To understand why social scientists have become enamored with it, we must first consider basic genetics. [...]
[...] Consider a landmark study, conducted in 2004 and published in Nature Neuroscience, which practically started the conversation over transgenerational epigenetics. The authors analyzed whether different nurturing styles might influence stress responses in offspring. The findings suggested that different types of nurturing from participant moms impinged on how babies developed by directly tinkering with their gene expression. Let that sink in: Our experiences—such as how our parents treat us—may alter how our genes are expressed, thus impacting our physiological and psychological development. The weightier implication, though, was that these epigenetic “markers” in the genome might also be transmitted to future generations (thus, the “transgenerational” moniker).
That’s right, the most compelling evidence for transgenerational epigenetics is in rodents, not humans.
Many social scientists felt vindicated by the findings, assuming it represented a triumph of the “social” over the “biological.” But the true nature of findings like these should inspire caution. In a new afterword published this year to his tour de force from 2002, The Blank Slate, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker reminds us why we shouldn’t carelessly fling ourselves on the transgenerational epigenetics bandwagon...
