Our fate lies in our genes, so we are told. So deeply entrenched in our cultural psyche, the idea makes it difficult to propose narratives that acknowledge the importance of genetic determinism yet add further non-genetic components to the argument. Gene centrism more or less excludes thinking of the biology of the whole plant, the complete creature and the systems of the integrative processes that enable billions and trillions of cells to work together as the whole functional organism. A side-lining of 'wholeness' that potentially ignores the importance of the genetic and non-genetic regulation of the effect of genes controlling the formation of the characteristics of an organism - in science parlance, the phenotype. We will discuss gene centrism and systems biology, attempting to understand how the ideas influence notions of nature, nurture and the interactions of the living and physical world.