Conceptual shifts needed to understand the dynamic interactions of genes, environment, epigenetics, social processes, and behavioral choices

The end of the 'Bad seed' Era? Epigenetics' contribution to violence prevention initiatives in public health

Despite numerous initiatives and significant resource investment, violence remains a pervasive threat to public health. The burgeoning field of epigenetics may offer an exciting new possibility for violence prevention efforts by illuminating the mechanisms of gene-environment interactions. In particular, it may improve our ability to design more effective primary interventions, facilitate improved intervention tailoring, and better position communities to be active agents in their well-being. However, without attention to the distinction between awareness, self-efficacy, and agency, it risks encouraging a false sense of individual accountability for violence, a perception that may perpetuate or increase existing inequities. Thus, embracing epigenetic insights in public health raises new opportunities but also new concerns. Ultimately, I argue public health should embrace epigenetics' potential, but only with an equal commitment to state responsibility and systemic justice.

Effects of ordered mutations on dynamics in signaling networks

BACKGROUND

Many previous clinical studies have found that accumulated sequential mutations are statistically related to tumorigenesis. However, they are limited in fully elucidating the significance of the ordered-mutation because they did not focus on the network dynamics. Therefore, there is a pressing need to investigate the dynamics characteristics induced by ordered-mutations.

METHODS

To quantify the ordered-mutation-inducing dynamics, we defined the mutation-sensitivity and the order-specificity that represent if the network is sensitive against a double knockout mutation and if mutation-sensitivity is specific to the mutation order, respectively, using a Boolean network model.

RESULTS

Through intensive investigations, we found that a signaling network is more sensitive when a double-mutation occurs in the direction order inducing a longer path and a smaller number of paths than in the reverse order. In addition, feedback loops involving a gene pair decreased both the mutation-sensitivity and the order-specificity. Next, we investigated relationships of functionally important genes with ordered-mutation-inducing dynamics. The network is more sensitive to mutations subject to drug-targets, whereas it is less specific to the mutation order. Both the sensitivity and specificity are increased when different-drug-targeted genes are mutated. Further, we found that tumor suppressors can efficiently suppress the amplification of oncogenes when the former are mutated earlier than the latter.

CONCLUSION

Taken together, our results help to understand the importance of the order of mutations with respect to the dynamical effects in complex biological systems.

Explaining the Relationship Between Minority Group Status and Health Disparities: A Review of Selected Concepts

Purpose: There is growing concern that value-based payment for health care may disadvantage health care organizations that serve populations with social risk. In the broader investigation of social risk factors, including income, education, neighborhood deprivation, and other risks, the focus on race and ethnicity as a risk factor for disparities in health and health care has diminished. Understanding the independent contribution of minority group status is critical to this discussion. This narrative review discusses four concepts—minority stress, resilience, epigenetics, and life course—that may help explain the contribution of minority group status and its association with health disparities.

Methods: We briefly describe each concept and the supporting evidence.

Results: Our results indicate that all four concepts have potential relevance for understanding and addressing health disparities. The life course perspective emphasizes the importance of understanding explanatory mechanisms and factors that contribute to health—including biological, physical, and social factors—over a person's life span. Both minority stress and resilience may influence health in either a negative or positive manner that potentially underlies health changes. Exposure to these factors and others may interact with and modify epigenetic regulation—biological processes that impact how our genes are expressed. This may increase the risk of disease and negative health outcomes, particularly among groups that may be at disproportionate risk because of social circumstances and environmental exposure over the life course.

Conclusion: Despite these concepts' relevance, more research is needed to assess how they may explain the relationship between minority status and disparities in health. Such evidence is needed to focus interventions and to inform the design of delivery and payment models that can spur actions to reduce disparities.

A Qualitative Analysis of How Anthropologists Interpret the Race Construct

This article assesses anthropological thinking about the race concept and its applications. Drawn from a broader national survey of geneticists' and anthropologists' views on race, in this analysis, we provide a qualitative account of anthropologists' perspectives. We delve deeper than simply asserting that "race is a social construct." Instead, we explore the differential ways in which anthropologists describe and interpret how race is constructed. Utilizing the heuristic of constructors, shifters, and reconcilers, we also illustrate the ways in which anthropologists conceptualize their interpretations of race along a broad spectrum as well as what these differential approaches reveal about the ideological and biological consequences of socially defined races, such as racism in general and racialized health disparities in particular. [race concept, social construction, racism, health disparities].

"He Beat You in the Blood": Knowledge and Beliefs About the Transmission of Traits Among Latinos from Mexico and Central America

Genomic literacy is becoming increasingly important. Knowledge about how Latinos from Mexico and Central America (MCA) think and speak about how traits are shared by family members is needed. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 MCA Latino men and women. Interviews elicited detailed information about participant beliefs and knowledge about intergenerational trait transmission, genes and genetics. Transcripts were systematically analyzed. Most participants had familiarity with the role of genes. Knowledge about gene function was limited. Participants used "blood talk" to discuss awareness that traits are transmitted between generations and to express that blood itself plays a crucial role often, but not necessarily, in conjunction with genes or DNA to transmit traits. Health educators need to directly address potential confusion about blood's role in the transmission of traits. Culturally and linguistically appropriate materials are needed to present genetic and genomic information to MCA Latinos.

Health Disparities and the Microbiome

An individual's microbiome is likely to be an important contributor to certain health disparity diseases and conditions. We present a framework to study the role of the microbiome and the multiple factors that are likely to influence differences in disease predisposition, onset, and progression at the individual and population level.

The early life origin theory in the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes

Life expectancy has been examined from a variety of perspectives in recent history. Epidemiology is one perspective which examines causes of morbidity and mortality at the population level. Over the past few 100 years there have been dramatic shifts in the major causes of death and expected life length. This change has suffered from inconsistency across time and space with vast inequalities observed between population groups. In current focus is the challenge of rising non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In the search to discover methods to combat the rising incidence of these diseases, a number of new theories on the development of morbidity have arisen. A pertinent example is the hypothesis published by David Barker in 1995 which postulates the prenatal and early developmental origin of adult onset disease, and highlights the importance of the maternal environment. This theory has been subject to criticism however it has gradually gained acceptance. In addition, the relatively new field of epigenetics is contributing evidence in support of the theory. This review aims to explore the implication and limitations of the developmental origin hypothesis, via an historical perspective, in order to enhance understanding of the increasing incidence of NCDs, and facilitate an improvement in planning public health policy.

'Biologizing' Psychopathy: Ethical, Legal, and Research Implications at the Interface of Epigenetics and Chronic Antisocial Conduct

Epigenetics, a field that links genetics and environmental influences on the expression of phenotypic traits, offers to increase our understanding of the development and trajectory of disease and psychological disorders beyond that thought of traditional genetic research and behavioural measures. By extension, this new perspective has implications for risk and risk management of antisocial behaviour where there is a biological component, such as psychopathy. Psychopathy is a personality disorder associated with repeat displays of antisocial behaviour, and is associated with the disproportionate imposition of harm on communities. Despite advances in our knowledge of psychopathic individuals, the construct remains complex and is hampered by a lack of integration across a range of fundamental domains. The clinical and forensic research on psychopathy is brought into conversation with the emerging field of epigenetics to highlight critical issues of (1) clinical definition and diagnosis, (2) assessment, (3) aetiology of psychopathic phenotypes, and (4) treatment and rehabilitation approaches. Broader ethical and legal questions of the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the management of psychopathy beyond the criminal justice arena are also outlined.

From genomes to societies: a holistic view of determinants of human health

Both biological and social sciences have identified contributing factors to human health. However, health outcomes are unlikely to equal a simple sum of these identified factors. This article makes an attempt to put together the information, methods, and technologies that relate to health outcomes from biological, behavioral, and social disciplines. Much of this information was obtained by controlling for the variations of the factors in 'other' disciplines. For example, genetic factors were controlled for in identifying the behavioral determinants of health. Looking forward, better understandings of health outcomes may require exploiting the interactions of health determinants that were identified from different disciplines. We propose the concept of 'systems health' studies, which take health outcomes as the outputs of a system, where the inputs and their interactions from multiple disciplines are considered.