From Asilomar to Industrial Biotechnology: Risks, Reductionism and Regulation

摘要

The international meeting held in February 1975 at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California, set in motion the first scientific evaluation of genetically modified organisms. It left a legacy that remains influential decades later when the world is faced with the prospect of a cornucopia of new products derived from gene-splicing technology. Unlike the initial concerns over the risks of recombinant-DNA molecule technology (r-DNA), which was the centrepiece of the early controversy during and for several years after the 1975 Asilomar meeting, the contested issues today are about the social, environmental, economic, and ethical consequences of creating products from the progenitor technology. The public's attention has turned from the risks of r-DNA in basic research to the risks of biotechnology primarily in agriculture and the pharmaceutical industry.