Emerging biotechnologies: full report - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Emerging biotechnologies: full report - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Emerging biotechnologies: full report - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
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E m e r g i n g b i o t e c h n o l o g i e s<br />
Public expectati<strong>on</strong>s and resp<strong>on</strong>ses<br />
6.47 Although the global scientific enterprise as a whole has a certain amount of self-sufficiency and<br />
a great deal of self-c<strong>on</strong>fidence, it is not isolated from or uninfluenced by the views of wider<br />
society. In emerging <str<strong>on</strong>g>biotechnologies</str<strong>on</strong>g>, oppositi<strong>on</strong> to forms of agricultural biotechnology (in<br />
Europe), stem cell research (in the US), and the use of animals for experiments, have all had a<br />
significant effect <strong>on</strong> the directi<strong>on</strong> of research. In some cases researchers’ percepti<strong>on</strong>s of what<br />
the public think may be as important as what those views actually are. In the c<strong>on</strong>text of<br />
nanotechnology, for example, the name “nanophobia-phobia” has been given to exaggerated<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cerns am<strong>on</strong>gst the research community about public reacti<strong>on</strong>s to nanotechnology. 449 On the<br />
other hand, the exposure of researchers to positive views from the public about the importance<br />
of their research, for example in biomedical research through the influence of patient groups<br />
and research charities, can shape research agendas and c<strong>on</strong>tribute to a sense of the value and<br />
urgency of biomedical research.<br />
C H A P T E R 6<br />
Global c<strong>on</strong>text<br />
6.48 The culture of science is str<strong>on</strong>gly transnati<strong>on</strong>al, but n<strong>on</strong>etheless scientists work in distinct<br />
locati<strong>on</strong>s subject to differing nati<strong>on</strong>al envir<strong>on</strong>ments. Different countries have different funding<br />
climates and funding priorities, though these inevitably influence each other. Public attitudes to<br />
different aspects of emerging <str<strong>on</strong>g>biotechnologies</str<strong>on</strong>g> have str<strong>on</strong>g nati<strong>on</strong>al differences, reflecting the<br />
divergent cultural and political histories of different nati<strong>on</strong>s. 450 Formal legal and regulatory<br />
structures necessarily have a territorial basis. Researchers, <strong>on</strong> the other hand, are often in a<br />
positi<strong>on</strong> to relocate to a different country if that envir<strong>on</strong>ment is more c<strong>on</strong>genial to their research.<br />
This leads to the very real possibility of a kind of regulatory arbitrage, which can be perceived to<br />
limit the ability of an individual nati<strong>on</strong> to maintain a policy or regulatory stance that diverges<br />
str<strong>on</strong>gly from world norms.<br />
Influence of researchers<br />
6.49 Researchers are undoubtedly subject to many external pressures and influences but they<br />
nevertheless play a very important role in setting the agenda for emerging <str<strong>on</strong>g>biotechnologies</str<strong>on</strong>g>.<br />
They not <strong>on</strong>ly create new knowledge but, by communicating the results of their research and<br />
their aspirati<strong>on</strong>s for where it might lead, they create the expectati<strong>on</strong>s that inform the decisi<strong>on</strong>s of<br />
policy makers and investors, am<strong>on</strong>g others. Subpopulati<strong>on</strong>s of researchers c<strong>on</strong>trol, through<br />
peer review, what research is published and where, and, through the status hierarchy of<br />
scientific journals, the level of importance attached to particular pieces of research and<br />
particular fields and sub-fields. Through the peer review of research proposals, researchers also<br />
c<strong>on</strong>trol funding at the micro-level of individual research projects; however, they also influence<br />
the strategic directi<strong>on</strong>s of funders through advisory committees and other forms of formal and<br />
informal c<strong>on</strong>sultati<strong>on</strong>, advice and participati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Researchers as communicators<br />
6.50 Researchers devote a significant amount of their time communicating their research to a<br />
number of different audiences, such as their peers and funders, and the media. 451 These<br />
various communicati<strong>on</strong>s have different aims. When we c<strong>on</strong>sider how knowledge of emerging<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>biotechnologies</str<strong>on</strong>g> is presented in the domain of biotechnology and the way these representati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
feed back into the science and policy domains, we should begin by attending to these different<br />
ways that researchers communicate. To the extent that discourse around emerging<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>biotechnologies</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>stitutes an ec<strong>on</strong>omy of promises, where visi<strong>on</strong>ary and speculative claims<br />
449 Rip A (2006) Folk theories of nanotechnologists Science as Culture 15: 349-65.<br />
450 Jasanoff S (2005) Designs <strong>on</strong> nature: science and democracy in Europe and the United States (Princet<strong>on</strong>, New Jersey:<br />
Princet<strong>on</strong> University Press).<br />
451 See: Peters HP, Brossard D, de Cheveigné S et al. (2008) Interacti<strong>on</strong>s with the mass media Science 321: 204-5.<br />
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