“The fathers were the ones who ate the sour grapes...”: Anthropological implications from the modern epigenetics

In this paper I examine the research program of epigenetics, which corresponds to the entry into the post-genomic era and represents a link between the social sciences and the life sciences. I show that epigenetics presupposes a reconsideration of the rigid version of genetic determinism and demonstrates the importance of the impact of the environment on the state and evolution of the genome, which should be regarded as an epigenome. I draw attention to the phenomenon of transgenerational inheritance, which suggests a notable correlation of states of stress and physical deprivation of individuals, with the state of mind and health of their descendants, and leads to the idea that social dynamics should be considered in terms of evolution of a holistic system over time. It makes one ponder over the fate of people and their descendants, depending on circumstances determined by the metamorphosis occurring in society over rather long segments of time. I argue that such consideration can be carried out in the context of the methodology of biocultural coconstructivism, which allows presenting this evolution as a process of mutual determination of all components of this system, in particular, having in mind gene-cultural interactions. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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