Discourses on synthetic biology in Europe, India and China

In: ISBN:978-3-319-14692-8

Abstract

This chapter consists of a comparative analysis of emerging debates on synthetic biology in the European Union, China and India. After briefly introducing synthetic biology as a new and emerging science, it maps and compares the emerging debates on synthetic biology in the three regions, focusing on a number of different discourses respectively relating to innovation, risk, and power and control. In addition, the chapter discusses and analyses the role of public and ethics debates as crosscutting and reflective discourses. It considers how these discourses have evolved, what the dominant themes and issues are, which actors are involved and how the discourses have been informed by the value systems and socioeconomic development in the three regions. In conclusion the governance challenges resulting from these discourses are considered.