Topic Description

Epigenetics could be a challenging point of view for biologists and physicians as it allows to consider different levels of explanation and to link them together in a dynamical way. Structured as a discipline more than 50 years ago, epigenetics has been rediscovered only in the last decade after the failure of some genetic hypotheses. Compared to Waddington\'s formulation, contemporary epigenetics - in particular when applied to medicine - is often considered in a narrow manner, and when placed in high-throughput analysis in most cases it acquires new meanings. In that \'narrow\' context the molecular level represents both the departure and the arrival point. I will show some cases from biology and medicine and after some linguistic and historical considerations I will pinpoint some philosophical issues.

Biographical Note

Flavio D´Abramo is a PhD student in the Department of Philosophical and Epistemological Studies at the University of Rome ´La Sapienza.´ He has been a visiting researcher in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College London. His research focuses on epigenetics, its uses in biology and medicine, and its implications for society.

Participants

• Flavio D´Abramo