Deep reforms of the politics
Epigenetics is exciting for political scientists and for politician alike. It might produce new means of control over many diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cancer or schizophrenia. At the same time, some people close to the development of epigenetics already criticize some of the consequences it might have, calling it eugenics. Therefore, epidapo might very well be an opportunity to study the deep reforms of the politics of public health and health insurance that might arise form epigenetics.
Different kinds of data
Epigenetics is a new dialogue between disciplines, and also between different kinds of data. Indeed, institutions gathering what is commonly called “big data”, be they private or public (social security) are major actors in the field. Biobanks, that gathers together collections very different in kind, such as tissues, medical and sociodemographic data, are flourishing. Birth cohorts, based on representative samples of fetuses followed from conception to the 20th anniversary of the person they became, are also developing. This proliferation of new data is in itself a social event with specific motives, means, and consequences that ought to be studied in Epidapo.
Interdisciplinary research
Epigenetics is scientifically an occasion to rejuvenate completely interdisciplinary research. Epigenetics is necessarily a long argumentative chain. Arguments come from biotechnology as much as environmental science or social science. Specialists of these disciplines are building their definitions of epigenetics and are already working together to develop a common language. Epidapo will be the place where this common language will have the better chance to thrive consciously, thanks to a special dedication to science reflexivity.