There is a longstanding heterodox tradition within sociology that has addressed the nature-nurture debate by integrating concepts and findings from the life sciences into sociological theory and research methods. In this chapter I suggest that recent trends in the life sciences away from genetic determinism and molecular reductionism and toward systems-based theorizing complement this sociological tradition, but that trends in sociology and in the organization of science are not favorable to heterodox interdisciplinary theorizing. I review recent life science research on the microbiome-gut-brain axis that I suggest has obvious relevance for social science research practice, and further suggest that social scientists who pursue research on pathways between the microbiome-gut-brain, society and culture are likely to make substantial contributions to knowledge even if their contributions remain on the margins of mainstream social science for some time.