The International Society of Nurses in Genetics (ISONG) 2015 World Congress: Epigenetics Across the Life Span.

The 2015 International Society of Nurses in Genetics (ISONG) World Congress was held in Pittsburgh, PA, November 6–8 (http://www.isong.org/index.php). The theme was Epigenetics Across the Life Span (http://www.isong.org/ISONG_program.php). ‘‘Epigenetics [is] the study of mitotically (or meiotically) heritable changes that alter gene expression and phenotypes, but are independent from the underlying DNA sequence’’ (Loi, Del Savio, & Stupka, 2013, p. 143). In turn, the epigenome comprises a series of chemical modifications (often referred to as tags or marks) that is superimposed on the genome of an organism. These chemical modifications, which are added by enzymes, can either affect the proteins that are involved in the packaging of DNA into chromatin (known as chromatin modification) or directly attach to the DNA (e.g., DNA methylation). They act as signals to tell genes whether they should be active (on) or inactive (off) at given times. Some of these tags are cell-specific and differentiate cell type and function. For example, in a differentiated cell, only 10–20% of the genes are active (Genetic Science Learning Center, 2014). Some tags are acquired and lost over the life course of an individual, and some tags are passed on from generation to generation and may take several generations to change. The field of epigenetics has transformed our understanding of how the environment, including diet, physical activity, psychological stress, and social context, participates in the regulation of gene expression. Discoveries in epigenetics shed new light on how the relationship between genomes and environments influences human development and health, and these discoveries may lead to exciting new treatments and prevention strategies for diseases and illness. Epigenetic inquiry is especially relevant to nursing science and practice in that our discipline has traditionally emphasized the interaction between the environment and the individual and sought ways to modify that interaction to positively impact health. It is fascinating that, in the postgenomic era, attention is turning back to the environment, or nurture, if you will, and its effect on health. In 2013, for example, Steven Cole wrote about the social regulation of the human genome, calling it social genomics. In his paper, he describes how changes in the social condition (e.g., food abundance, stress, and the feeling of loneliness) regulate gene expression that governs the immune response and inflammatory process. He thus provides a framework for integrating molecular, physiologic, and social perspectives on human health (Cole, 2013). Long before we were capable of studying the human genome; however, nurses were tending to the social and environmental structures that influence human health and development. Florence Nightingale’s research focused on the importance of a healthy environment for the physical and mental well-being of patients (Herbert, 1981). Indeed, Lilian Wald explicitly tied poor social and environmental conditions to health and integrated nursing care into the community specifically in order to mitigate the unfortunate health consequences of poor social and physical environments (Wald, 1915). While nursing in more recent times has been more focused on the care provided in hospitals and long-term care facilities, epigenetics may compel us to reexamine the context of nursing care and to once again focus on the social and environmental structures that interact with the genome to affect human health and development. Nurses are well educated about the social and biological determinants of health and therefore well prepared to integrate epigenetics into research and apply their findings to improve health. Indeed, the 2015 ISONG World Congress featured presentations from nurse researchers who are integrating epigenetics into research on brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, pregnancy outcomes and fetal development, child development and health, refining the Huntington disease phenotype, disparity in cardiovascular disease, and epigenetic influences on the life course and subsequent risk for metabolic syndrome. As the current ISONG president, I invite you to explore our website and get to know us. ISONG was founded in 1987. Our founders had the foresight to realize that, while they worked within the specialized setting of clinical genetics,