Sociogenomics

Research in the early 2000s that looked at the gene expression of immune cells in several animal species (including honeybees, zebra finches, and cichlids) found that only 5% of gene expression variation was attributable to genetic factors, while up to half (depending on the species) was attributable to a subject’s environment.

These studies led to the creation of a field called “Social Genomics” or “Sociogenomics,” which focuses on the environmental and social variables that influence genomic activities, including in human beings.

In practice, that means looking into how things like isolation, breakups, and one’s day-to-day habits might impact the expression of one’s genes.

And expression, in this context, means that while we’re born with genetic blueprints, the way our genes turn out (how tall we get, how active our immune systems are, etc) are partly determined by the lives we live, and where and how we live them.

So the same person growing up in a war zone versus growing up in a happy, loving, safe household will tend to have different genetic outcomes, despite having been born with the exact same genes; that’s a difference in gene expression, as opposed to a difference in inherited genome.