Genetic Engineering Regulation in Australia: An 'Archaeology' of Expertise and Power

摘要

Strategies of regulation have played a central role in addressing or containing scientific and public controversy about the overall purpose and safety of genetic engineering. A defining reason in Australia for this was provided in revealing documents I attained through Australian Freedom of Information procedures from a federal agency at the heart of strategic manoeuvring in support of the genetic engineering endeavour, and which has played a central role in the Australian biopolicy network: the Department of Industry, Science & Technology. In the early 1990s, as in other parts of the world faced with escalating public resistance to genetic engineering at that time, this network of industrial, bureaucratic, scientific and regulatory players turned to strategiz-ing more on how to best popularize GM amidst the rising dissent. In their discussions, they acknowledged, 'We know that creating trust [in] the regulatory process is the most effective single factor in gaining public acceptance of gene technology' (ABA PERC, 1994).