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The headline was irresistibly provocative:“Lonely flies, like many humans, eat more and sleep less,” suggesting the proof of cause to a long-standing but unproven epidemiological association between loneliness and poor health [1]. Yet, pulling back the veil on the sensational implications in the headline reveals the limitations of our current approach to and the need for a new model that explains disease pathogenesis. In this paper, we propose a model, biosocial pathogenesis, that integrates both a person’s biology and their biography, or lived experience. To understand why this new approach is needed, and how it might help us to tailor treatment more effectively for patients, let’s begin by looking more closely at what happens to flies and humans who are socially isolated.

A rigorous science of social relationships and especially their health consequences developed as part of a broader consideration of the role of …