As we’ve surveyed in the last posts, technical scientific expertise is a central criterion for a seat at the table for decision-making around new biotechnologies. Where does this expectation come from? In this post, we explore how scientists come to see themselves as the experts and how they come to internalize the boundary between science and the...

How is the public systematically excluded from discussions about genetic engineering technologies? What strategies might scientists employ to include public opinions within their governance structure? Find out in this new installment of Backstage Decisions, Front-stage Experts! Missed the last section? Click here! Want to start from the beginning? Click...

How does the legacy of the 1975 Asilomar conference inform recent and ongoing regulation of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technologies? How do these regulation structures reproduce social inequities? Find out in this new installment of Backstage Decisions, Front-stage Experts! Missed the last section? Click here! Want to start from the beginning? Click...

So far, we’ve talked about how the 1975 Asilomar conference created a system in which scientists escaped government and public scrutiny. But whose perspectives and voices were sidelined in the process? Find out in this new installment of Backstage Decisions, Front-stage Experts! Missed the last section? Click here! Want to start from the beginning?...

In this week’s installment: When faced with the scientific possibilities and public hazards of emerging recombinant DNA technology, 1970s molecular biologists are forced to navigate the contentious boundaries between science, government and the public. Didn’t catch part 1? Click here for the previous installment! A U.S. military research satellite...

In democratic societies like the U.S., we entrust relevant experts with the task of making hard choices that impact broader society. There is a tacit agreement between technical experts and everybody else that the experts will follow rational decision-making heuristics that align with previously established norms and values. Scientists often fill...