Sarah Richardson

The Maternal Imprint: Gender and the Science of Epigenetics

Sarah Richardson, Assistant Professor of the History of Science and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality,
Harvard University, is visiting the Science Studies Colloquium Series !he lecture is o"en everyone
The lecture is part of the Science Studies Colloquium Series, and is open for everyone. The lecture lasts from 14.15-15.00.
Shortly after we open up for questions, comments and discussion.

Abstract: !his tal# analy$es ho% maternal &odies are situated and valenced %ithin the field of
e"igenetics '"igenetics, the study of ho% ex"eriences, environments, and ex"osures alter gene
ex"ression, is a vi&rant ne% area of "ostgenomic life sciences research '"igenetic research on maternal
effects advances a model of human inheritance and develo"ment in %hich the %ider social and "hysical
environment can &e seen as herita&le and as a determinate of future &iomedical outcomes via discrete
&iochemical modifications introduced &y the am"lifying vector of the maternal &ody As an e"igenetic
vector, the maternal &ody is at once a &ac#ground element, a medium for the fetus (et it is also a )critical* develo"mental
context in %hich environmental ex"osures are am"lified, cues are transmitted, and genes are "rogrammed '"igenetics
research situates the maternal &ody as a central site of e"igenetic "rogramming and transmission, and as a significant locus
of medical and "u&lic health intervention Reflection on e"igenetics+&ased &iomedical and "u&lic health interventions
recommended &y leading scientists suggests a need for sensitivity to ho% certain &odies or s"aces &ecome intensive targets
of intervention %hen conce"tuali$ed as am"lifying vectors of ris# %ithin the ex"lanatory landsca"e of e"igenetics
Bio: Sarah S Richardson is Assistant Professor of the History of Science and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality
at Harvard University She received her Ph, from the Program in -odern !hought and .iterature at Stanford University
A historian and "hiloso"her of science, her research focuses on race and gender in the &iosciences and on the social
dimensions of scientific #no%ledge She has &road interests and ex"ertise in the history of molecular &iology, &iomedicine,
and genetics, the "hiloso"hy of science, science and technology studies, and feminist science studies She is the author of
Sex Itself: The Search for Male and Female in the Human Genome /01234 and the co+editor of Revisiting Race in a
Genomic Age /01154 We&site6 htt"677scholarharvardedu7srichard

Organizer
Science Studies Colloquium Series
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Time and place:
Mar 19, 2014 02:15 PM - 03:30 PM, Georg Sverdrupshus, Undervisningsrom 2
The Maternal Imprint: Gender and the Science of Epigenetics - Depar... http://www.hf.uio.no/ifikk/english/research/news-and-events/events/gu...
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