Bibliographies Biotechnology, the Life Science Industry, and the Environment
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berkeley workshop on environmental pol i tics bibliographies b 04-9 biotechnology, the life science industry, and the environment an annotated bibliography Dustin R. Mulvaney and Jennifer L. Wells institute of international studies, university of california, berkeley table of contents Introduction.....................................................................................................................................1 General Overview ............................................................................................................................1 Biological Frameworks: Genetic Reductionism and Epigenetics .......................................................7 The Ethics of Biotechnologies ........................................................................................................12 The Ecological Hazards of Transgenic Crops ..................................................................................16 Politics, Science and the Social Context of Regulation....................................................................20 The Life Science Industries and Agro-Industrial Dynamics ............................................................25 The University-Industrial Complex................................................................................................31 Germplasm, Genetic Resources, and Global Governance ...............................................................35 Annotated Bibliography .................................................................................................................39 Appendices A. Acronyms .........................................................................................................................98 B. Popular Works ................................................................................................................100 C. Edited Volumess.............................................................................................................102 D. Glossary of Laws, Policies, and Institutions ....................................................................103 E. Website Clearinghouse....................................................................................................105 June 2004 iii biotechnology, the life science industry, and the environment: an annotated bibliography Dustin R. Mulvaney Department of Environmental Studies University of California, Santa Cruz Jennifer L. Wells Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California, Berkeley introduction The entrance of “biotechnology” into the lexicon of environmental controversies coincided with increasing awareness of the nefarious effects of industrialization, and with the greater scrutiny of our faith in science and technological progress. Mapping the discourse of biotechnology fi nds franken- foods, golden rice, monarch butterfl ies, miracle drugs, and eugenics caught up in a maelstrom of claims and counterclaims about food safety and security, ecological stewardship, medical progress, and social justice. This annotated bibliography aims to serve as a guide for refl ecting upon and inves- tigating these themes. In the essays that follow, you will fi nd a general overview of the fi eld of biotechnologies. This annotated bibliography reviews the challenges biotechnologies present, surveying the literature on the ethics, politics, ecology, and political economy of biotechnology as it relates to concerns as di- verse as regulatory governance, industry-academic relations and capitalism in agriculture. Following the essays is an extensive appendix that includes edited works, books for general audiences, web- sites, and a condensed summary of relevant laws, policies and institutions. A list of acronyms used throughout this annotated bibliography can be found in the appendix as well. general overview Biotechnology—What is it? Signifi cant advances in molecular biology have rapidly brought about a far-reaching set of biotech- nologies. Boundaries must be drawn to make a collection such as this meaningful and consistent. In doing so, this bibliography restricts “biotechnology” to mean the application of techniques that intervene at the molecular or cellular level to transform life processes. Biological processes, such as those utilized in beer brewing and the manufacture of penicillin, do not fall under our rubric. Recombinant DNA techniques, protoplast fusion, tissue culture, and nanotechnology (genetic in- terventions at the scale of the nanometer—one billionth of a meter, which is the scale of atoms and molecules) defi ne the modern biotechnology that characterizes the products and processes of the life sciences industry and the techniques of molecular biology. 1 The terms that characterize these objects are inconsistent. Genetically modifi ed organism (GMO) is used to emphasize the intentional manipulation of genetic code; genetically engineered or- ganism (GEO) conveys a sense of precision that sets it apart from other techniques of manipulation, although this characterization can be misleading; transgenic organism is used to emphasize that the product was produced by moving genes from one place to another, either within or across species. All three are used by authors in this bibliography for reasons political, ethical, or scientifi c. Finally, the “life sciences industries” are the fi rms whose products depend on cellular and mo- lecular techniques. They are in the business of biomedical technologies, pharmaceuticals and plant genomics. The fi rms that converge at the nexus of biotechnologies, the life science industries and the environment are primarily those that develop products for agricultural and medical biotechnology or those that pursue genetic materials with pharmacological properties. The genetic manipulation of plants and animals represents a huge leap in the powers of human- kind to alter their environment. Scientists can now fabricate hybrid and chimerical plants and ani- mals, with traits that are not only new but also transmissible to all succeeding generations, coming from the intimate genetic make-up of different organisms—even those belonging to entirely different branches of the tree of life (Seralini 2000). As such, this annotated bibliography will provide a background for the reader to explore the ways that the life sciences industry is reifi ed by the ideology of scientifi c precision, the organization of economic systems, and the logic of commodifi cation. This overview aims to make accessible a wide range of emerging literature exploring the many ways in which biotechnology and the life sci- ences industries interact with individuals, our culture, and our environment. Boon or bane—the spectrum of opinions Claims about new technologies have rarely been divided across such a wide spectrum. Many of the world’s leading molecular biologists largely support advances in biotechnologies as critically needed approaches to end hunger, cure disease, prolong lives and perfect human beings. Biotechnology in agriculture was initially billed as the next Green Revolution, a technology that would end world hunger and prevent environmental degradation. Norman Borlaug, who won the Nobel Prize for his founding role in the Green Revolution, says that in its fi rst twenty years biotechnology developed invaluable applications with the greatest impact in medicine and public health. Proposed benefi ts in- clude increased yields and improved nutritional value. Some even argued that reduced use of chemi- cal input means that transgenic crops are better for biodiversity than non-transgenic crops. “Improvement” of human genetics is a radical proposition. While transgenic crops involve ethical questions of how we affect our environment, human germline engineering raises deep and very challenging ethical concerns about our very humanity and fundamental identity. Critics of human germ-line engineering fear we will lose our individual identities and our very sense of hu- manity (Habermas 2003; Kass, 2002). Advocates claim that what they openly call a “new eugenics” is inevitable and good. Professor Lee Silver of Princeton, a leading advocate of eugenics, envisions a biotech society emerging in the coming decades, in which, “the GenRich—who account for ten percent of the American population—[will] all carry synthetic genes…. All aspects of the economy, the media, the entertainment industry, and the knowledge industry [will be] controlled by members 2 of the GenRich class… Naturals [will] work as low-paid service providers or as laborers… The use of reprogenetic technologies is inevitable… There is no doubt about it… whether we like it or not, the global marketplace will reign supreme.”1 The new technologies, according to critics, will not only degrade the environment, they will also pose several major new environmental problems, perhaps on an unprecedented scale, as well as exacerbate wealth divides and create some of our most diffi cult new social problems (Fukuyama 2002; Habermas 2003; McKibben 2003; Rifkin 1998). “The stakes are absurdly high,” says Bill McKibben, “Nothing less than the meaning of being human” (McKibben 2003). Jeremy Rifkin, who has written about biotechnologies for three decades, calls biotechnology the most radical technology since fi re, and says that in the next 25 years they may provoke a profound disruption in all areas of our daily lives and deeply transform our individual and collective conscience (Rifkin 1998). Understanding biotechnologies is a complex and lengthy process given their novelty