This project will track recent public policy responses to biotechnology in Britain, West Germany and the United States. In all three countries, biotechnology has now progressed from the research laboratory into the marketplace, creating a demand for new policies and giving rise to new controversies and political alliances. The project will compare three areas of parallel policy development in the chosen countries: controls on field-testing of genetically engineered microorganisms, regulation of fetal and embryo research, and patenting of genetically engineered life forms. Through a combination of literature reviews, analysis of legal and policy initiatives, and interviews, the project will identify the major actors, instruments and outcomes that comprise the "new" politics of biotechnology and will analyze the values underlying different national policy choices. The project will generate new empirical information about a significant area of science and technology policy. The comparative research will facilitate the testing of important hypotheses about science, technology and political choice, such as claims about technological determinism and the social construction of technology. By including a comparative approach and attention to hypotheses of interest in several different science, technology and society research fields, the research will also provide a methodological alternative to the study of single cases and controversies which currently predominates. Results are expected to include a book, a number of articles for a variety of audiences, and presentations at scholarly and other meetings, and will enrich courses and programs at the investigator's university. Studies in Science, Technology and Society supports research projects and related activities that promise to improve our understanding of the intellectual and value contexts that influence the development and use of science and technology. This project focuses on an important, continuing episode of interactions among science, technology and society. The research plan is solid, and provides an important comparative perspective. The principal investigator is a productive scholar who is uniquely qualified to undertake the research. Results promise to be very useful to a wide range of audiences. Therefore, the project is recommended for support.
