Abstract
When the regulative influence of the environment on genes is seen in the postgenomic discourse as evidence against genetic determinism, epigenetics seems to solve the problem. This interpretation is premature. The argument of gene–environment interaction refutes only a simple version of genetic determinism, whereas a more complex version of it not only persists, but is actually promoted by the mask of the “solution”. The reason for this covert genetic determinism is an asymmetric perception of gene–environment interaction. Often popular scientific representations employ different information criteria. While genetic information is there understood in the sense of an intentional instruction, epigenetic information is thought to apply only to its regulation. For a comprehensive refutation of genetic determinism, reference to the interactions between genes and environment is insufficient and therefore the whole process of the development of information must be taken into account.
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Schuol, S. (2017). Epigenetics and Genetic Determinism (in Popular Science). In: Heil, R., Seitz, S., König, H., Robienski, J. (eds) Epigenetics. Technikzukünfte, Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft / Futures of Technology, Science and Society. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-14460-9_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-14460-9_4
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