"Environment, (Epi)genetics, and human history, health and well-being: a cross-disciplinary conversation" – an event with the INCEPTION program

The INCEPTION program, supported by the Institut Convergence Investing in the Future call, is organizing a new event entitled “Environment, (Epi)genetics, and human history, health and well-being: a cross-disciplinary conversation”, to be held on Tuesday June 26, 2018, at 4:00pm in the Auditorium of the François Jacob building at the Institut Pasteur.

What roles do environment, genetics and epigenetics play in human history and health? For our first Inception-sponsored “Dialogs between the Biomedical and Social Sciences”, we bring together two world-class researchers for a provocative, stimulating discussion across the disciplines of population genetics and anthropology. The discussion will be moderated by Philippe Sansonnetti and Tamara Giles-Vernick.

The “Dialogs between the Biomedical and Social Sciences” series is funded by the ANR Investing in the Future scheme. It brings leading researchers to the Institut Pasteur to discuss their work related to the primary concerns around the emergence of the Inception program, and highlights the potential interactions and complementarities between biomedical and social sciences.

We hope that lots of you will come along!

For more information, please contact Marina Caillet: marina.caillet@pasteur.fr.

Margaret Lock (Marjorie Bronfman Emerita, Professor in Social Studies of Medicine at McGill University) will reflect on the burgeoning field of epigenetics, and specifically on “behavioral epigenetics”, in which environmental variables constitute triggers that bring about bodily changes with respect to human health and well-being, as well as illness causation. These emerging insights from epigenetics make obsolete assumptions of genetic determinism (with some minor exceptions for rare conditions), and of a straightforward nature/nurture dichotomy.

Lluis Quintana-Murci (Human Evolutionary Genetics, Institut Pasteur) will discuss work examining population genetic and epigenetic approaches to shed light on demographic shifts and adaptations to environmental changes. Specifically, he will draw on his research concerning Central African hunter-gatherers and farmers.