Wednesday, January 27, 2010
On 19 January 19th, the ‘Trend Analysis Biotechnology 2009 – global momentum’ was presented jointly by three advisory bodies to Ms Cramer, Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment.
Advice was provided by the Centre for Society and Genomics (CSG), which at the same occasion presented its report ‘The social relevance of biotechnological trends’ (in Dutch). In this report, CSG describes a demand driven approach towards biotech-nology: which biotechnology development contributes most to pressing social issues and needs?
An important conclusion of the study is that citizens and experts regard the role of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture as the most socially relevant of the various biotechnological trends.
Developments in this area are considered the most promising, but not without risks. On the other hand, medical biotechnological trends,
such as the 1000-dollar genome and gene therapy, give rise to concerns of a medical-ethical nature.
Read more (in Dutch only)