Factors Influencing Public Policy Development in Agricultural Biotechnology

From the introduction: "The Wider Picture"

'Public policy' is a complex term for a complex situation. The temporal and spatial complexity of public policy is the result of the multitudeof factors influencing it, such as the opinions of vocal minorities and majorities, and its embedded position in the overall development of humanculture, science and art.

It may now be stated as a matter of fact that biotechnology, which has developed rapidly due to the recent upsurge in the molecular sciences,has become a major factor in everybody's life. Biology, which not long ago was still the romantic science of rare animals and beautiful plants, hasnow definitely lost its innocence and needs to be looked at not only with a spirit of belief in the great potential to be gained from understanding life and life processes but also with some concern.

If we want to work towards a positive transition from global inequality to a generally more humane world, we will ultimately need to improve thedialogue on knowledge, science and society in order to provide a more positive social trend in a world of ever-growing potential for conflict.Knowledge is understood here as value-laden long-term dimensions of cultural and social knowledge.

For example, it is obvious that discussions on agricultural biotechnology have been the centremost in recent debates. A major focal point in these discussions has been genetic engineering as a tool for modern plant breeding. It is clearthat many lay people have developed a fine-tuned anxiety about the new developments in this field, and it is not only ignorance that makes them fearful. There is a Range public divide on this matter, not only between lay people and scientists but also between politicians and voters. The importantquestion is, how can we overcome divisions of this size and, given appropriate time scales, what do we want to set as new policy goals in this area?

Recent developments have clearly shown that there are tight connections between economics and the resolution of conflict. Terrorism is an element of society that has always been present, but it has nowbecome a global problem since technology has facilitated new organisational structures and forms of violence on all sides. The Third World War will be fought without frontiers, and it is not certain whether or not it has already begun. Opinions about this are numerous and each side has its own arguments, but here we want to look forward in a constructive way.

This 13-page paper is a chapter in the book Handbook of Plant Biotechnology.

Click here to download the full chapter in PDF format [2.2 MB].