The political load of the mismatch model

• In Event: Political Transformations of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) and Epigenetics in the Global South 2

Abstract

In this paper I analyse the allocation of responsibilities performed through epigenetics and DOHaD in contexts where material resources are limited such as in the societies of the Global South. First, I show the peculiarities of the mismatch model which is at the very core of most of the DOHaD hypotheses and where e phenotype which develops in a specific, usually poor, perinatal context is expected to develop a malfunctioning when the late, adult context doesn’t match the early one – i.e. the perinatal context. Through some case studies I highlight the ideological load of transporting the mismatch model, which has been developed within wealthy, western, neoliberal societies, in societies of the Global South, or situated micro-context which are expected to “develop” within similar, economic trends. Then I ask if what doesn’t match is the organism (and its early environment) with its material, adult context, or if instead is the societal, usually-poor context which gave shape to the phenotype (which is expected to be susceptible to various diseases) which doesn’t match with an expected or real economic growth.

Author

• Flavio D'Abramo, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science