Your Genes Are Listening: Social Genomicist Steve Cole

If you've bought into the simplified notion that genes are top-down bosses, issuing marching orders that your cells, body and brain merely obey, it's time to rethink. Biobehavioral scientist Steve Cole and colleagues are assembling a new picture of genes that don't just talk, but also listen. Though scientists have long known that external inputs affect gene regulation (which genes are switched on or off), the degree to which large numbers of genes are influenced moment-to-moment by our experiences – including our social life, our feelings and perceptions – is an important developing story. Steve and I talked about this new understanding of the mind-body connection, how feelings and perceptions may impact the immune system via changes in gene regulation and the emerging field he calls “social genomics.” After hearing this interview, you may never feel the same about your genome again.