You’re invited to a webinar on Thursday 7 March

Reproduction in Society is back for 2024!

For more details on the talk and to register, see below:

Translating epigenetics in pregnancy: switches, books and punctuation.

What is epigenetics and what is its relevance for pregnant couples and individuals and their future children? How might people planning to have children learn about epigenetics and what does this information encourage them to do to prepare for pregnancy and while pregnant? This paper presents preliminary data from sociological research into the translation of epigenetics into antenatal care, which is part of a wider ARC-funded interdisciplinary project led by Professor Catherine Mills. It reports on analysis of information from varied sources that could be accessed by members of the general public and describes how these discourses explain epigenetics to future parents, and what such people are encouraged to do in the name of their future babies’ lifelong health. The paper describes various common analogies used to explain epigenetics to lay readers and viewers, including switches, books, and punctuation, and critically analyses the freight such analogies carry in translating scientific knowledge into popular pregnancy advice.

REGISTER HERE!

Meet Our Speaker

Celia Roberts is a Professor in the School of Sociology, at The Australian National University. She is the author of books on sex hormones and sexual development, on health biosensing and on preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

Her latest book, written with Mary Lou Rasmussen, Louisa Allen and Rebecca Williamson, reports on an empirical study of women who were pregnant or parenting a newborn during the 2019–20 bushfires in South East NSW and the ACT.

She is currently collaborating with Catherine Mills, Kylie Valentine, Jackie Leach Scully, Jackie Boyle and Rebecca Williamson on a project about the translation of epigenetics into antenatal care.