Commentary: Biological Freudianism and the

quest for understanding of the social origins of health Vivienne Moore Dubos and colleagues ’ stated purpose1 was twofold, to demonstrate that the early environment could have a lasting influence on biological characteristics and to illustrate the ability of laboratory models to address ‘socio-medical ’ problems occurring in human populations. These twin purposes were drawn together at the end of the paper in the call for ‘an experimental science that might be called biological Freudianism’. Three years later, in 1969, René Dubos won the Pulitzer Prize for his book So Human an Animal, which had the unifying theme ‘that all experiences leave a stamp on both physical and mental characteristics’, with special emphasis placed on ‘very earl