New gene editing techniques promise significant benefits within the agricultural sector. However, realizing the full potential of these technologies will depend on how it is governed, and whether the public accepts it. Gene editing for agriculture and food poses public acceptance challenges due to its association with genetically modified organisms, scientific complexity, and social and ethical concerns. New governance forms for gene editing for agriculture and food will be necessary since existing regulatory instruments cannot deal with its complexity and novel risks, but it is unclear what those governance forms should be and if they would enhance public trust in the technology. To address these gaps, this project analyzes how key actors use competing collective visions of the future and the role of science within it to shape public trust and governance approaches for gene editing for agriculture and food. Findings will be broadly disseminated to key publics through a policy panel, digital storytelling projects, high school lesson plans, and in online publications. These innovative digital and online educational resources will advance public literacy and engagement with the scientific, social, and ethical issues surrounding gene editing for agriculture and food. Knowledge generated by this project will benefit a wide range of stakeholders, influencers, and publics who are engaged in governance efforts for gene editing for agriculture and food.
This is a comparative investigation of how the ways in which actors from key social groups imagine their technoscientific futures matter for the use and governance of gene editing technologies for agriculture and food. Multiple social science methods, including media content analysis, in-depth stakeholder interviews, deliberative workshops, and interpretive comparative methods, are used to investigate this emerging scientific controversy and develop ways to create more inclusive governance processes for decision making related to controversial and emergent technologies. Project goals include: (1) Identifying key visions for technoscientific futures and their proponents; 2) Assessing how key actors develop and use particular visions of the future to stabilize or disrupt public trust in gene editing technologies and their governance; 3) Comparing visions of the futures across cases; and 4) Engaging key actors in deliberative workshops to provide an assessment of findings and deliberate on inclusive governance approaches. Overall, the project will contribute to the theory and practice of Responsible Research and Innovation, and to scholarship in Science and Technology Studies on governance of emerging technologies.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
