The epigenetic “revolution” in science cuts across many disciplines, and it is now one of the fastest-growing research areas in biology. Increasingly, claims are made that epigenetics research represents a move away from the genetic determinism that has been prominent both in biological research and in understandings of the impact of biology on society. We discuss to what extent an epigenetic framework actually supports these claims. We show that, in contrast to the received view, epigenetics research is often couched in language as deterministic as genetics research in both science and the popular press. We engage the rapidly emerging conversation about the impact of epigenetics on public discourse and scientific practice, and we contend that the notion of epigenetic determinism – or the belief that epigenetic mechanisms determine the expression of human traits and behaviors – matters for understandings of the influence of biology and society on population health.

中文翻译：

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科学和社会中的表观遗传决定论

科学领域的表观遗传学“革命”跨越了许多学科，目前已成为生物学中发展最快的研究领域之一。越来越多的人声称，表观遗传学研究代表了对基因决定论的一种转变，这种决定论在生物学研究和生物学对社会影响的理解中都很突出。我们讨论表观遗传框架在多大程度上实际上支持这些主张。我们表明，与公认的观点相反，在科学和大众媒体中，表观遗传学研究通常以与遗传学研究一样确定性的语言表达。我们参与了关于表观遗传学对公共话语和科学实践影响的迅速兴起的对话，我们认为表观遗传决定论的概念——或者相信表观遗传机制决定人类特征和行为的表达——对于理解表观遗传学的影响很重要。生物学与社会对人口健康的影响。