Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the DNA itself. The field is rapidly growing and being widely promoted, attracting attention in diverse arenas. These include those of the social sciences, where some researchers have been encouraged by the resonance between imaginaries of development within epigenetics and social theory. Yet, sustained attention from science and technology studies (STS) scholars to epigenetics and the praxis it propels has been lacking. In this article, we reflexively consider some of the ways in which epigenetics is being constructed as an area of biomedical novelty and discuss the content and logics underlying the ambivalent promises being made by scientists working in this area. We then reflect on the scope, limits and future of engagements between epigenetics and the social sciences. Our discussion is situated within wider literatures on biomedicine and society, the politics of “interventionist STS”, and on the problems of “caseness” within empirical social science.

中文翻译：

---

绘制新的分子景观：表观遗传学的社会维度

表观遗传学是研究由 DNA 本身变化以外的机制引起的基因表达变化。该领域正在迅速发展并得到广泛推广，引起了各个领域的关注。其中包括社会科学领域，一些研究人员因表观遗传学和社会理论中的发展想象之间的共鸣而受到鼓舞。然而，科学技术研究（STS）学者对表观遗传学及其推动的实践缺乏持续关注。在本文中，我们反思性地考虑表观遗传学被构建为生物医学新颖领域的一些方式，并讨论了该领域科学家做出的矛盾承诺背后的内容和逻辑。然后，我们反思表观遗传学和社会科学之间的合作范围、局限性和未来。我们的讨论涉及生物医学和社会、“干预主义 STS”的政治以及实证社会科学中的“案例性”问题等更广泛的文献。