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ELSA-Etiske,rettslige og samf.m. as

Designed to get away, emerging deliberation and governance on autonomously disseminating technologies.

Awarded: NOK 0.50 mill.

GM biocontrol agents represents novel and controversial technical means to deal with biological entities that often span political borders. These agents are explicitly designed to spread and/or endure in the environment remote from day-to-day human manage ment. They entail high-stake and urgent issues for humans and the ecology that are riddled with uncertainty and complexity technological interventions into exemplary post-normal domains. Some projects are in advanced stages of development, several at the point of field trials. It is highly likely that the first applications of these technologies will set important precedents for science, policy and culture that will shape developments in years to come. In the proposed project we will address these issue s with reference to three related and intensifying technological efforts: a. Genetically modified biocontrol agents for the lethal control of problematic (non-human) populations, b. Genetically modified agents to reduce the reproductive ability of probl ematic (non-human) populations, and c. Genetically modified agents for the control of disease in wildlife reservoirs and vectors. Our synthesis will draw some conclusions for GM control agents, which will be further elaborated to address the particula r challenge of governance of self-dispersing technologies, opportunities and limitations on deliberation in cross-border applications (often with very disadvantaged members of the international community), and chart some of the metaphors, expectations and narratives that are in circulation to navigate these prospects. The work will have cross-cutting relevance to disseminating applications of nanotechnology, as well as the emerging phenomenon of synthetic biology, although its relevance to neurotechnolo gy may be limited. The project work will be based at the Genøk-Centre for Biosafety, a governmental appointed competence centre for research on improving safety of existing and emerging bio-innovations.

Funding scheme:

ELSA-Etiske,rettslige og samf.m. as