Against Genetic Determinism and Toward a Dialectical Biology
Daniel Sarkissian, Minnal J. Kunnan
Abstract
This article challenges the reductionist framework of genetic determinism by arguing that contemporary advances in epigenetics, systems biology, and molecular physiology fundamentally undermine the classical Mendelian conception of the gene as an autonomous unit of heredity. Drawing on recent research into chromatin remodeling, DNA methylation, transcriptional regulation, alternative splicing, metabolic signaling, and transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, it demonstrates that gene expression is a dynamic process mediated by cellular metabolism, environmental conditions, and organismal development rather than by a fixed genetic blueprint. Interpreting these findings through the framework of dialectical materialism, the article contends that biological development is governed by reciprocal, historically conditioned interactions between organism and environment, thereby offering a comprehensive critique of genetic reductionism and its ideological implications. It further argues that a dialectical biology provides a more scientifically adequate account of heredity while illuminating the ways in which social and material conditions shape human health, development, and evolutionary potential.
Keywords
Dialectical Materialism, Epigenetics, Genetic Determinism, Gene Regulation, Systems Biology
