From Social Structure to Gene Regulation, and Back: A Critical Introduction to Environmental Epigenetics for Sociology

TLDR

Epigenetics studies how gene activity is regulated, and environmental epigenetics links social forces such as pollution, nutrition, and trauma to lasting molecular changes that affect behavior and health. The authors introduce environmental epigenetics, explain its experimental logic, review its relevance to socioeconomic status, and discuss its implications for sociological research. They outline the scientific methods used to investigate how social exposures become molecularly embodied and influence gene expression. The review highlights both opportunities and challenges that epigenetics presents for empirical and theoretical sociology.

Abstract

Epigenetics is a burgeoning area of biomedical research into the mechanisms by which genes are regulated—how the activity of producing proteins is controlled. Although molecular epigenetic research is highly biochemical, it is of interest to sociologists because some epigenetic changes are environmentally mediated and can persist across the life span or into further generations. Environmental epigenetic research tracks mechanisms by which social forces—from pollution to nutrition to mothering to traumatic experience—become molecularly embodied, affect gene expression, and induce durable changes in behavior and health. We begin with an introduction to the science of environmental epigenetics focused on articulating the logic of experimentation and explanation in this field. Turning to sociologists' key interests, we review the growing literature on epigenetics of socioeconomic status. Finally, we consider how epigenetics offers opportunities and challenges for sociological research on both empirical and theoretical grounds.