Institute For The Future

The Biopolitics/Activism of Epigentic Effects

 

A fairly substantial body of research has found statistical links between a wide variety of factors--ranging from pollution levels to food availability to stress and income levels--reduce long-term health outcomes.

 

Research in the life sciences--in particular, fields like genetics and epigeneitcs--is beginning to show that these environmental, social and contextual challenges all leave detrimental biological imprints on people. The interpretative difference--between the vague dismissibility of statistics versus the ability to see and track the biological impacts of social and environmental determinants of health--will become a critical piece of citizen engagement and activism in the coming decade.

 

One key driver of this forecast is the extent to which scientific evidence is beginning to show outsized impacts of environmental and other stressors on children. For example, a recent review article in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that childhood exposure to environmental stress and pollution dramatically increases lifelong risks of diseases and has detrimental lifetime impacts on mental health. This coincides with research in epigenetics that is beginning to show that many of the riskiest genes also confer rewards--subject to positive environmental inputs. That is, people exposed to positive, less stressful environments with risky genes tend to be more successful and do better than their counterparts with the less risky genes.

 

The broader point here is that the ability to see and measure impacts in more rigorous ways will continue to drive biocitizen-type engagement and activism that we've been examining for a while. As the ability to see and measure the effects of social and environmental determinants of health improves, citizens will engage in more significant ways surrounding the effects of broad social factors on their individual bodies.

 

Epigenetics: A field focused on how not-genetic influences impact genes, it's beginning to show how environmental factors imprint on biology and confer advantages and disadvantages to people based not genetics but on factors in their environments.

 

Neuroscience: There's a similar effect here: Advances in neuroimaging and neuroscience are making it possible to see how social and environmental determinants of health impact the brain.

 

What is the idea/forecast?:

 

The ability to see the effects of pollution, inequality, etc. on the body will be a new basis for activism

What science/technologies are involved?:

 

See above: neuroscience, epigenetics

What's the expected health outcome?  (How does this address the challenge of transforming bodies and lifestyles?):

 

Downstream--impact stems from activism to improve the conditions that produce good health.

What is the scale?:

 

Large-scale

What is the timing/pace of change of the forecast?:

5-10 years. Longer term but based on current biocitizenship type activism/movements