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Cited by 68Birth, Development, and HealthEpigenetics and DNA MethylationPhilosophy and History of Science

Epigenesis for epidemiologists: does evo-devo have implications for population health research and practice?

Davey Smith, George·2012·International Journal of Epidemiology
DOI 10.1093/ije/dys016
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Abstract

Epidemiologists engage with a wide range of other disciplines, as reflected in many of the topics that would now be considered essential for any comprehensive grounding in the subject. Thus, ‘‘lifecourse’’ was a word I was only familiar with from sociological writings when I was completing an epidemiology master's degree at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine a quarter of a century ago, but now there are Lifecourse Epidemiology research units, a plethora of textbooks, and diagnosticos of the health situation from national and international agencies often appeal directly to the notion. Socio-economic inequalities in health were of more interest to political activists than to academic epidemiologists, but (perhaps in the spirit of Herbert Marcuse's ‘repressive tolerance’1) are now an utterly mainstream concern. Psychological notions are pervasive, and some debates in the field have pitted primarily social notions of disease origins2 against more psychologically inclined approaches,3 bypassing traditional epidemiological explanatory frameworks. From econometrics, our discipline has imported instrumental variables analyses, among other borrowings. Genetics used to seem so distant from epidemiological concerns that, shamefully, during recruitment of participants for one of the studies I was involved with, I threw away large volumes of buffy coats from which DNA could have been extracted. Developmental biology became of greater epidemiological concern with the seminal studies of David Barker's group on indicators of fetal growth and later life health outcomes.4 More recently, epigenetics has come to the fore and it is now unimaginable that a referee's report would state ‘I do not know what the term epigenetics means’, a sentence included in a BMJ review I received when I included the term in a 1997 submission.5

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  • If the genetic variants used in MR influence who has available outcome data - either owing to differential survival or study participation - the MR study will be biased.

    “Similarly, if the genetic variants used in MR influence who has available outcome data — either owing to differential survival or study participation — the MR study will be biased.31”

    From Mendelian randomization (2022) · cites this paper as [31]

  • Study participation is heritable and influenced by a number of different traits, and large studies such as the UK Biobank have high levels of selection in those who participate.

    “Study participation has shown to be heritable and is influenced by a number of different traits, and large studies such as the UK Biobank have been shown to have high levels of selection in those who participate.31,170–172”

    From Mendelian randomization (2022) · cites this paper as [31]

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Authors
Davey Smith, G.
Venue
International Journal of Epidemiology
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2012-02
Volume
41
Issue
1
Pages
236-247
ISSN
  • 0300-5771 (ISSN-L)
  • 1464-3685
DOI
10.1093/ije/dys016
OpenAlex
W2150168958
Cited by
68
References
111
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 6
FWCI
6.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • International Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
  • Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion)
  • Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
Keywords
epigenetics, evolutionary developmental biology, population health, life course epidemiology, developmental origins of health and disease, Barker hypothesis, fetal growth, socioeconomic inequalities in health, epigenetic epidemiology
MeSH terms
Biological Evolution, Humans, Public Health Practice, Molecular Epidemiology, Evolution, Molecular, Biomedical Research, Epigenesis, Genetic

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