The Temporal Politics of Placenta Epigenetics: Bodies, Environments and Time

Abstract

This article builds on feminist scholarship on new biologies and the body to describe the temporal politics of epigenetic research related to the human placenta. Drawing on interviews with scientists and observations at conferences and in laboratories, we argue that epigenetic research simultaneously positions placenta tissue as a way back into maternal and fetal bodies following birth, as a lens onto children’s future well-being, and as a bankable resource for ongoing research. Our findings reflect how developmental models of health have helped recast the placenta as an agential organ that is uniquely responsive to environments during pregnancy and capable of embodying biological evidence about the effects of in utero experiences after birth. We develop the concept of ‘recursive embodiment’ to describe how placenta epigenetics is reimagining relationships between bodies and environments across developmental, epigenetic, and generational time, and the impacts this has for experiences of pregnancy and responsibilities related to children’s health.

Epigenomic Stories: Evidence of Harm and the Social Justice Promises and Perils of Environmental Epigenetics

“…However, racialized, gendered, and neoliberal contexts often result in individualized narratives of blame that disproportionately affect Black, Brown, and Indigenous women and birthing people (Saldaña-Tejeda and Wade 2019; Valdez and Deomampo 2019). This is particularly so when studies focus on pregnancy and early life as “critical windows” into children’s future health (Lappé and Landecker 2015; Mansfield 2017; Lappé 2016; Lappé and Jeffries Hein 2022; Mansfield and Guthman 2015; Richardson et al 2014; Valdez 2018; Waggoner 2017). These periods of the life course are saturated with cultural and political significance, therefore even when epigenetic researchers focus on the biological effects of broader forces during these time periods, their findings are likely to position already marginalized individuals as “marked for intervention” (Pitts-Taylor 2019, 663) and personally responsible for health in problematic ways (Mansfield 2017; Richardson 2017).…”

“…(Participant 3, September 20, 2016, emphasis added)Her account reflects that scientists often simplified how health is impacted by social conditions to produce clear narratives about cause and effect related to their research. In doing so, scientists actively omitted complexities, including broader social and political systems that shape lived experiences and their connections with racism, sexism, and White supremacy (Lappé and Jeffries Hein 2022; Valdez 2022).…”