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1st
EMBL/EMBO Joint Conference 2000 |
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Session
IV |
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Panel discussion Biotechnology and its discontents |
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Julian kinderlerer [Chair], Assistant
Director of the Sheffield Institute of Biotechnological Law
and Ethics, UK
Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, Director, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin,
Germany
Mark Cantley, Head of the Biotechnology Unit Directorate for Science, Technology
and Industry of the OECD, Brussels, Belgium
Sheila Jasanoff, Professor, Science and Public Policy, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University, USA
Stefan Flothmann, Head of Genetic Engineering Department, Greenpeace Germany
David Dickson, News Editor, Nature, UK
The latter half of the last century saw significant reductions
in morbidity and mortality due to infectious diseases following
the discovery of antibiotics and the overall improvement of living
conditions in industrialised nations. However, the treatment of
infectious diseases is presently in a state of crisis as a result
of [1] the development of increasing incidence of antibiotic resistance
in all type of pathogenic microbes; [2] the emergence and reemergence
of various infectious agents of humans which were thought to be
controlled [such as tuberculosis] or those that have only recently
been identified as pathogens [such as Lyme disease or HIV/AIDS].
Many factors have contributed to this state of affairs and major
health organisations such as WHO and the FDA [US] have begun to
institute worldwide action to attempt to ameliorate the situation.
One requirement is the continuing supply of therapeutic agents that
can be employed in the [directed] treatment of infection. The discovery
of novel antibiotics has not kept up with the development of resistance
and as a result, the available compounds have become less and less
effective. This is not surprising, since antibiotic resistance in
microbes is inevitable; in addition, the situation is compounded
by the fact that promiscuous gene transfer is a bacterial life style.
Resistance cannot be treated, it can only be delayed. Where will
new therapies come from?
Biographies
Julian kinderlerer
Julian Kinderlerer is currently Assistant Director of the Sheffield
Institute of Biotechnological Law and Ethics. His plans for the near
future include starting an approved and large project funded by the
Wellcome Trust providing an on-line resource for bioethics in the
UK. He has been involved in issues relating to the regulation of Biotechnology
worldwide for many years, having joined the UK's Advisory Committee
on Genetic Modification in 1984, when it was founded. He is currently
seconded to the UNEP in Nairobi to help develop capacity Building
projects in Biosafety in terms of the Cartagena Protocol and the Biological
Diversity Convention.
Hans-Jörg Rheinberger
Hans-Jörg Rheinberger studied philosophy and biology in Tübingen
and Berlin. He was a research scientist at the Max Planck Institute
for Molecular Genetics in Berlin [1978-1990], Assistant Professor
at the Institute for the History of Medicine and Science, University
of Lübeck [1990-1994], and Associate Professor at the Institute
for Genetics and General Biology, University of Salzburg [1994-1996].
Since 1997, he has been the Director of the Max Planck Institute
for the History of Science in Berlin.
Professor Rheinberger has published numerous research papers in
molecular biology and history of science. His books include: Experiment,
Differenz, Schrift [Basiliskenpresse, Marburg 1992]; Toward a
History of Epistemic Things. Synthesizing Proteins in the Test Tube1
[Stanford University Press, Stanford 1997]. He is co-editor, together
with P. Beurton and Raphael Falk, of The Concept of the Gene in
Development and Evolution. Historical and Epistemological Perspectives1
[Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000].
Mark Cantley
Mark Cantley has since January 1999 rejoined the European Commission,
as Adviser in the Directorate for Life Sciences in the Directorate-General
for Research of the European Commission. From 1993 to December 1998,
he headed the Biotechnology Unit within the Directorate for Science,
Technology and Industry of OECD, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development; and was Secretary of its Internal Coordination
Group for Biotechnology. This work addressed policy issues in agriculture
and food, health care and pharmaceuticals, and environmental services;
on aspects such as safety regulations, intellectual property rights,
and the financing of international research infrastructure.
He was previously [1984-92] head of the "CUBE" [Concertation Unit
for Biotechnology in Europe] in the European Commission, responsible
inter alia for initiatives in public information, consumer dialogue,
Eurobarometer opinion surveys, bioinformatics infrastructure, collaboration
with developing countries on exploitation of genetic resources,
and secretariat of the Biotechnology Regulation Inter-service Committee,
1985-1990.
His previous career covered a number of industries, starting in
iron and steel, and usually from the skeptical perspective of a
training in operational research. His degrees are in Mathematics
[B.A. Cambridge]; Economics [M.Sc. London]; Operational Research
[Dip., London]; and Accounting and Finance [C.Dip.A.F.]. Married,
with six children, he lives in Brussels and Lancaster.
Sheila Jasanoff
Sheila Jasanoff is Professor of Science and Public Policy at Harvard
University1s John F. Kennedy School of Government and holds faculty
affiliations in History of Science, Public Health, and Environmental
Science and Public Policy. A lawyer by training, she has devoted
her research career to the interactions of law, science, and politics.
Her specific areas of interest include law, science, and technology;
environmental regulation and risk management; and comparative science
and technology policy. Before joining Harvard, she was for 20 years
on the faculty of Cornell University, where she founded and chaired
the Department of Science and Technology Studies. She is the author
of Risk Management and Political Culture1, "The Fifth Branch: Science
Advisers as Policymakers1", and "Science at the Bar: Law, Science,
and Technology in America", and co-author of - Controlling Chemicals:
The Politics of Regulation in Europe and the United States1. She
is also co-editor of the Handbook of Science and Technology Studies1
and section editor for Science and Technology Studies of the "International
Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences". Jasanoff has held
visiting appointments at Yale, Oxford, and Kyoto Universities. She
has served on the Board of Directors of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science and is president of the Society for
Social Studies of Science.
Stefan Flothmann
Stefan Flothmann studied biology from 1983 to 1990 at the Universities
of Düsseldorf and Kiel in Germany, monitoring programs and specialising
in environmental impact assessments, marine and fisheries biology.
In 1991 he changed his area of interest to aquaculture until he
joined Greenpeace in 1993. There he started working as oceans campaigner
and changed to genetic engineering in 1997, first as team leader
and later as head of the department. Since October 1999, he has
also been part of the Senior Management Team of Greenpeace Germany.
Since 1997 he has been actively involved in public campaigning
on genetic engineering focussing on the issues genetic engineering
in agriculture and food but also on patenting of life. As head of
the department he is responsible for the political direction of
the organization1s campaigning. He has also represented Greenpeace
International at conferences, including Symposia of the Codex Alimentarius.
David Dickson
David Dickson graduated in mathematics from the University of Cambridge,
and worked for the British Society in Social Responsibility in Science
before becoming a science journalist specializing in science policy
and 'science and society' issues. He has previously worked as Washington
correspondent for Nature [1978-82], European correspondent for Science
[1982-1989] and editor of New Scientist [1990-92], and has been
news editor of Nature since1993. In each of these positions he has
written extensively about the social and political debates around
genetic engineering and genomics, in particular focussing on issues
relating to environmental safety and patenting. He is the author
of Alternative Technology1[London, 1974] and 'The New Politics
of Science' [New York, 1984]. |
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