Ethical and social issues of translating epigenetics into antenatal care
Ethical and social issues of translating epigenetics into antenatal care
Exploring how epigenetics and information about the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) are being translated into maternal health and social support services and relevant policy in Australia
Funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP210100111
This research project aims to better understand how epigenetics and information about the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) are being translated into maternal health and social support services and relevant policy in Australia. We are particularly interested in investigating how ideas about epigenetics and the intergenerational transmission of health are understood in relation to maternal behaviours that are associated with poor foetal outcomes (such as smoking, alcohol, obesity/overweight and maternal stress). In addition to potentially enhancing maternal and foetal health outcomes, epigenetics offers a way to reconceptualise heritability and the relationship between the biological and social. Yet, we also need to consider the ethical implications of translating this science into real world applications, particularly if interventions reinforce biological reductionism or heighten mother-blaming.
This project aims to generate new knowledge about how the science of epigenetics can be used to address social inequality. The project explores the perspectives of scientists, maternal healthcare specialists and the views of parents in the general public to better understand these issues. Outcomes of the project include novel theoretical approaches to the ethics of pregnancy, along with guidance tools to shape the use of epigenetics in antenatal care and social policy to reduce social inequalities.
Research Questions
The research questions that this study seeks to address are:
1. What is the state-of-the-art scientific knowledge about epigenetics and DOHaD in relation to antenatal care?
2. Is there a gap between that knowledge and the translation of that knowledge into the provision of maternal health services?
3. How are ideas of the developmental origins of health and disease and the evidence of epigenetics being translated into maternal health and social support services and relevant policy in Australia?
4. How do practitioners in maternal healthcare and support services for women and families understand epigenetics, and how do they convey these ideas to women?
5. How do members of the general public respond to ethical concerns about epigenetics, and how does it shape ideas about responsibility for maternal wellbeing?
Outputs
Williamson, R., Roberts, C., Valentine, K., Leach Scully, J., Mills, C., & Boyle, J. (2025). Translating epigenetics into antenatal care in Australia: communicating risk and intergenerational health in practice. Health, Risk & Society, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2025.2551975
McMahon, C. (2024). Constructing maternal responsibility: narratives of “motherly love” and maternal blame in epigenetics research. New Genetics and Society, 43(1). https://doi-org.virtual.anu.edu.au/10.1080/14636778.2024.2367206
Mills, C. (2023). Protecting the future child: Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, easy rescue and the regulation of maternal behaviour. Bioethics, 37(8), 771-778. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13214
Conference presentations
Roberts, C. (2023) Searching for reproductive epigenetics online: smoking foetuses and their mothers. Invited presentation at National Taiwan University, 12 December.
Roberts, C. (2024) Translating epigenetics in pregnancy: switches, books and punctuation. Reproduction in Society Seminar Series, Monash Bioethics Centre, Monash University, 7 March.
Roberts, C. (2024) Searching for reproductive epigenetics online: Smoking foetuses and their mothers. UNSW Social Policy Research Centre seminar series, 11 June.
Roberts, C., Williamson, R., Valentine, K., and Leach-Scully, J. (2024) What Can Epigenetics Contribute to DOHAD? A view from social science. DOHaD ANZPac Conference, 4-5 July, Griffith University, Gold Coast.