Genomic sciences for developmentalists: a merge of science and practice

The etiological forces of development have been a central question for the developmental sciences (however defined) since their crystallization as a distinct branch of scientific inquiry. Although the history of these sciences contains examples of extreme positions capitalizing on either the predominance of the genome (i.e., the accumulation of genetic factors driving development) or the environmentome (i.e., the accumulation of environmental factors driving development), the moderate view of development as the emergence of a person from a particular genome and within a specific context has settled into the driver's seat and is disputed no longer. Yet, although there is a converging theoretical perspective, a gap between this perspective and practice remains. In other words, society needs to translate this position into praxis. This opinion exemplifies the current state of corresponding knowledge in the developmental sciences, with a particular emphasis on the understanding of the role of the genome in child and adolescent development, and offers a set of comments on how this translation is being shaped by the newest technologies in the genomic sciences.