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The basic premises of genetics, the scientific study of heredity and variation via genes, are widely known and accepted. In contrast, the processes through which these genes are regulated and expressed are much less understood. Epigenetics is the study of these processes, and it has emerged as a significant focus of research only within the last decade or so. While epigenetics conforms in many ways to the mainstream understanding of the science of genetics, many aspects of epigenetics are controversial. Beyond the scientific challenges, epigenetics presents perhaps even more significant challenges for our contemporary politics. These political challenges of epigenetics are the focus of this article.
In terms of the science of epigenetics, research is showing not only how the regulation or modification of gene expression works but also how it is often affected by influences from the immediate environment. In addition, a growing body of research in epigenetics is demonstrating how some of these epigenetic modifications are being passed on to subsequent generations, but not as changes in the DNA, which is the accepted route for inheritance. This concept of the transgenerational inheritance of epigenetic modifications is the most contentious aspect of contemporary epigenetics because the possibility of supragenetic inheritance fundamentally challenges cornerstone assumptions of the conventional science of genetics. Furthermore, as this article will suggest, epigenetics also potentially raises equally fundamental challenges for our conventional policies and politics.
At present, the study of epigenetics is not yet on the radar of most policy makers. This article helps initiate the eventual policy discussion around epigenetics by identifying the emerging narratives of epigenetics -- that is, the causal stories that are constructed from the science of epigenetics. In particular, this article assesses the reporting on epigenetics in two ideologically distinct news sources, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, to examine the effects of ideology on the emerging narratives of epigenetics and the potential effects of epigenetics on ideology.
Figure 1.
Articles on "epigenetic(s)" found in PubMed database, 1965-2015.
More specifically, I determine whether reporting on epigenetics displays specific patterns or differences related to the ideological bent of the source of a particular narrative. In addition to providing a starting point for discussing the narratives of epigenetics, this analysis provides a...