Social Issues
What does genetic information affect? For one, it "serves to highlight the effects of inequality in living and working conditions and adds a multigenerational dimension to environmentally caused adverse health effects" (25). With this information, employers and co-workers alike can actively discriminate against an individual. Based on their genetics, a person can either be rejected by an employer or shunned by co-workers simply because they may possibly have a genetic condition (24). The main social issues that come from the studies of epigenetics are related to stress, diet, education, parenting, and opportunity.
There is an issue raised on whether employers could prohibit fertile women from working where there is possible exposure to certain substances suspected of causing epigenetic harms. The purpose of this raised issue would be to attempt to prevent any future harm to the later-born children of female employees. And in the long-run, will reduce the likelihood of personal injury claims brought by those children based on their in utero exposure. Multiple or various health effects also might extend to the offspring of the prenatally exposed children and even more so to future generations. (45)
Individuals who are epigenetically triggered will change their own lifestyle to fit the standards of changing their epigenome environmentally. Many epigenetic triggers can come from smoking or eating unhealthy and as the use of epigenetics become broader, many become cautious and purposefully change the way they live to stop these triggers. Like every science topic, social issues are inevitable. (40)
