Since the early 2000s, the rise of research into epigenetics has become a rich source of news for popular media. Much of this coverage has centred on the contested concept of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance (TEI), the idea that acquired traits and experiences, especially of adversity (war, famine, pandemics), can be passed down to offspring and affect the health of subsequent generations. Much of the research exploring popular representations of epigenetics and TEI has focused on the written word, including the study of metaphors. In this paper, we employ visual frame analysis to analyse the visual representations and metaphors of TEI on Google News between 2009 and 2022. We show how images help make some claims about TEI visible and familiar by tapping into traditions of visualisation from the natural sciences, documentary history and family photography. We explore what this framing might mean for the public understanding of epigenetics.
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Nerlich et al. (2024) studied this question.
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