Samia Salem, Die öffentliche Wahrnehmung der Gentechnik in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland seit den 1960er Jahren

Extract

The scientific, economic, legal and ethical aspects of genetic engineering are among the most intensively studied topics in recent science studies. In this book, based on her PhD thesis, historian of technology Samia Salem provides a detailed picture of the public discourse on genetic engineering in Germany, a country in which the introduction of foodstuffs produced by genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the use of genetic tools in reproductive medicine has been subject to intensive criticism. While Salem clearly disproves the perpetual lament of German politicians and industrialists that the fundamental rejection of a seminal innovation like genetic engineering is possible ‘only in Germany’, she conclusively highlights national peculiarities of the debate. To mention one, the first wave of criticism was led by human geneticists who, grappling with the eugenic past of their specialty, were at odds with visions of human betterment as expressed in the 1962 CIBA symposium ‘Man and his future’. The experimental practices and potentials of genetic engineering, however, received little public attention until the early 1980s, occasional cover stories about the future breeding of supermen or superplants notwithstanding. Since German molecular biologists, in contrast to their transatlantic colleagues, rarely took an active role in the debate, concerns about the safety of GMOs in research and pharmaceutical production, as well as of ideas about the legal regulation of their use, were largely imported from the USA. Nevertheless, the 1970s saw the emergence of a number of small activist groups documenting and criticising new developments in genetic engineering. These NGOs—often engaged in opposition to specific projects involving GMOs—acted as pioneers of the debate before major players in the NGO scene, notably Greenpeace, began to discover the topic. According to Salem, a broader discourse about potential hazards of genetic engineering developed in the mid-1980s, when GMO-produced foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals began to enter the market. At the same time, safety regulations became a matter for political debates that finally lead to the adoption of a federal genetic technology law in 1990. One of the study’s major achievements is the accurate mapping of the landscape of NGOs, scientific institutions, industrial lobby groups and other political players involved in these debates. Large parts of the book are about discursive strategies employed to win over decision makers and the public opinion rather than about the ‘public perception’ of genetic engineering.