American Public Health Association - Social Regulation of Human Gene Expression: Mechanisms and Implications for Public Health

American Public Health Association - Social Regulation of Human Gene Expression: Mechanisms and Implications for Public Health

Steven W. Cole.  (2013). Social Regulation of Human Gene Expression: Mechanisms and Implications for Public Health. American Journal of Public Health. e-View Ahead of Print.

doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.301183

Accepted on: Dec 7, 2012

Social Regulation of Human Gene Expression: Mechanisms and Implications for Public Health

Steven W. Cole, PhD

Steven W. Cole is with the Division of Hematology-Oncology, School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.

Correspondence should be sent to Steven W. Cole, PhD, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, 11-934 Factor Building, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1678 (e-mail: coles@ucla.edu). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the “Reprints” link.

ABSTRACT

Recent analyses have discovered broad alterations in the expression of human genes across different social environments. The emerging field of social genomics has begun to identify the types of genes sensitive to social regulation, the biological signaling pathways mediating these effects, and the genetic polymorphisms that modify their individual impact. The human genome appears to have evolved specific “social programs” to adapt molecular physiology to the changing patterns of threat and opportunity ancestrally associated with changing social conditions. In the context of the immune system, this programming now fosters many of the diseases that dominate public health. The embedding of individual genomes within a broader metagenomic network provides a framework for integrating molecular, physiologic, and social perspectives on human health. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print August 8, 2013: e1–e9. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.301183)