Editing nature: Local roots of global governance

November 1, 2018 | Patti Mulligan

Dr. Jennifer Kuzma, Goodnight-NC GSK Foundation Distinguished Professor and Co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center, was one of the lead authors on an interdisciplinary team calling for global oversight of environmental gene editing in this Science Policy Forum, Editing Nature: Local roots of global governance....

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Katie Barnhill-Dilling & Dalton George – Responsible Research & Innovation in Action: Tales from the Front Lines

August 21, 2018 | Patti Mulligan

11/20 Colloquium - Dr. Katie Barnhill-Dilling and Dalton George | Responsible research and innovation (RRI) is an increasingly applied normative framework for the governance of emerging technologies. However, meaningful implementation of RRI principles can be challenging, particularly with respect to upstream stakeholder and community engagement. The Safe Genes NCSU project, "Restoring Ecosystems and Biodiversity through Development of Safe and Effective Gene Drive Technologies," has been designed with RRI in mind. ...

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Journal of Responsible Innovation publishes ‘Roadmap to Gene Drives’ special issue

January 26, 2018 | Patti Mulligan

The Genetic Engineering and Society Center at NC State hosted a workshop in February of 2016, supported in part by the National Science Foundation, entitled ‘A Roadmap to Gene Drives: A Deliberative Workshop to Develop...

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GES Colloquium WordCloud

Gene Drives and Responsible Innovation

December 8, 2017 | Patti Mulligan

It is not often that a new technology is at once hailed as a potential solution to pandemic disease, wildlife conservation and hunger, while also being feared as a potential military and environmental “bioweapon.” Gene drives,...

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Funders respond to NASEM Gene Drive study

December 1, 2017 | Patti Mulligan

Funders of the National Academy of Sciences consensus study Gene Drives on the Horizon (2016) have published a response to the report in the December 2017 issue of Science.  The study summarized "current understanding of the scientific discoveries related to gene drives and their accompanying ethical, legal, and social implications," and was co-authored by Dr. Jason Delborne, associate professor of science, policy and society in the College of Natural Resources and executive committee member of the GES Center....

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Jason Delborne

Jason Delborne appointed to National Academies Forest Biotech Study Committee

November 30, 2017 | Patti Mulligan

Dr. Jason Delborne has been appointed to the National Academies of Sciences provisional committee on The Potential for Biotechnology to Address Forest Health, or Forest Biotech Study. The study will be looking at the potential uses of biotechnology to mitigate threats to forest tree health, identify ecological, ethical, and societal implications of using this technology in forests, and develop an agenda to address knowledge gaps in its application. ...

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From Todd Kuiken's visit to Counter Culture Labs in San Francisco in August, 2017.

Upgrading Biosafety and Biosecurity: Open Philanthropy awards $700K for DIYbio

September 22, 2017 | Patti Mulligan

“For the last six years, Todd and I have been exploring the best ways to ensure the healthy growth of community labs as safe and secure resources for public education and biotech innovation,” says Grushkin. “This grant will help us codify best practices in these often unconventional spaces.”...

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Read "Citizen Health Innovators: Exploring Stories of Modern Health" from BioCoder, Spring 2017

Todd Kuiken in BioCoder: Citizen Health Innovators

May 5, 2017 | Patti Mulligan

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Many would argue that their greatest necessity is health. So what happens when treatments are ineffective or unavailable? Today, in the age of crowdfunding, some people are taking matters into their own hands and developing their own treatments, including surgical techniques, gene therapies and molecular therapies. GES Senior Research Scholar Dr. Todd Kuiken, together with international science policy expert Eleonore Pauwels, of The Wilson Center, explores the risks, regulatory issues, and implications of the emerging DIY, "patient-powered" health research movement in the Spring 2017 issue of BioCoder....

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Read "U.S. Regulations for Biotechnology Are Woefully Out of Date" on Slate.com

Jennifer Kuzma quoted in Slate on biotech regulatory issues

May 3, 2017 | Patti Mulligan

Biotechnology is moving at lightening speed, especially with the advances in genetic engineering and synthetic biology. However, policies and regulations lag far behind, leaving potentially dangerous gaps in classification and oversight. Dr. Jennifer Kuzma, GES...

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NSF Comparing Cultures of Responsible Innovation across Bioengineering Communities

January 10, 2016 |

Overview The Genetic Engineering and Society (GES) Center received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for $350,000 to fund a three-year standard grant in the cross-directorate program of Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM (CCE). Issues...

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