to read about Arline Geronimus’ “Weathering Hypothesis” in general and applied specifically to disparities involving pregnancy, childbirth, and early childhood. Analyze her ideas as an elaboration upon the basic biological processes we have considered in recent weeks. That is, interpret her hypothesis in the context of environmental influences upon phenotypic variation.
You have three goals in this essay:
1. to summarize the Weathering Hypothesis
2. to summarize important ways in which environmental variation can produce phenotypic variation
3. to interpret the weathering hypothesis in terms of the biological processes you addressed in goal 2
A good answer will include….
• a clear explanation of Geronimus’ Weathering Hypothesis and what “allostatic load” means (1 paragraph)
• a summary of how she and others use the hypothesis to analyze disparities involving pregnancy, childbirth, and early life/infancy (1-2 paragraphs)
• an explanation of what is meant by epigenetics, heritability and quantitative genetics, and gene-environment interactions (3 paragraphs, 1 for each topic)
• a discussion of how each topic (epigenetics, heritability and quantitative genetics, and gene-environment interactions) could provide a mechanism for the Weathering Hypothesis (2-3 paragraphs)
• your conclusion about the plausibility of Geronimus’ hypothesis with supporting reasons for your conclusion (1 paragraph)
• clear and appropriate use of the concepts and terminology we have developed this semester
• bibliographic citations of all references and sources you used, including discussions with members of the class and anyone else
I will provide all sources for this paper.
AMERICA IS FAILING ITS BLACK MOTHERS article
Infant Mortality and African Americans (data about infant mortality) article
