Biotechnology and Nanotechnologies

Abstract

The term biotechnology covers a very wide range of areas with intimate links to academic research, health care, food supply, industrial development, and so forth. It also contains a wide range of highly controversial ethical and political issues. The issues currently discussed reflect social concerns, ethical dilemmas, and major democratic challenges to the postmodern society. The Biotechnology Strategy of the European Commission (European Com-mission, COM(2002), p. 27) contains many different areas such as stem cell research, bio banks, xenotransplantation, genetic testing and the use of genetically modified organisms for food production. For example, genetic testing raises concerns about privacy and personal integrity. At the core is a question about the ownership of our genome. All these areas have ethical and political elements and policies should not be formed by the experts alone as they tend to present risk assessment results with a perceived but misleading image of scientific correctness (Caruso, 2006). Nor should politicians be too receptive to pressure from lobbying by interest groups, either they represent industry or NGOs, without being able to challenge their arguments.