The Talking Biotechnology Conference: reflecting on science in society.(Conference reports)

Wellington, 29 November-2 December, 2005

Late last year, Wellington, New Zealand, was the scenic location of an international conference on the role of biotechnology in society. Organised by the 'Sustainable Biotechnology Project', an interdisciplinary research programme funded by the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST), the conference was co-hosted by the Management Schools of Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Waikato.

The conference attracted some 180 delegates from Australasia, Asia, Europe and North America. Delegates were there to explore how the dialogue surrounding the development of biotechnology has evolved and how that evolution has impacted, or might impact, upon society. The conference programme included 50 academic presentations and workshops on a diverse range of topics including public perspectives on and engagement with biotechnology, discourse and dialogue on biotechnology, regulation and governance of biotechnology, and communicating about biotechnology. With four parallel streams, there was plenty to interest the delegates and much thought-provoking discussion on issues as varied as '(Re)constructing embryos in stem cell research', 'The genetically modified culture of risk reporting', and 'How tissue engineering may solve a moral dilemma for meat lovers'!

What made the conference interesting was its broad focus on not just academic research, but also on a wide range of perspectives from government, law, media, community groups, business and the biotechnology industry. Nine practitioner panels were organised around the business of biotechnology, communicating biotechnology, and legal, regulatory and ethical issues for biotechnology. Panel topics included funding biotechnology research, commercialisation, patenting, biotechnology and sustainability, bioethics, and the media and biotechnology.

Another value-added dimension of the conference was the large number of outstanding international keynote speakers--eleven in all! These included Michael Elmes (WPI), Rob Evans (Cardiff), Bob Heath (Houston), Neville Jordan (Endeavour Capital), Jenny Kitzinger Evans (Cardiff), and Judy Motion (Waikato). Alan Irwin, Professor of Science and Technology at the University of Liverpool, provided the opening keynote, offering some critical reflections on the 'new' scientific governance in Europe. His compatriot, Brian Wynne, Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University, provided an equally fascinating closing keynote, on the possibility of 'public value science'--imbuing science with different imaginations of human ends and purposes. Other highlights included Aroha Mead's (Victoria University of Wellington and Macquarie University) well-received introduction to the concept of a collective bio-cultural heritage as a specific indigenous response to biotechnology, and Christopher Newell (University of Tasmania) and Gerard Goggin's (University of Sydney) provocative polemic on 'the importance of suffering' and how disability is implicated in the shaping of genetic science.

It wasn't all work at the conference though. In an inspired decision, the conference organisers held the welcome reception at the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. The reception coincided with the 'Genetic Revolution' exhibition (both sponsored by Merck Sharp & Dohme), and conference delegates were able to wander through the exhibits after enjoying cocktails and meeting other conference participants. The conference dinner was held at the historic St James Theatre, and a superb meal was followed by an entertaining talk on science in society by Professor Paul Callaghan, Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, and 2005 winner of the Royal Society of New Zealand Rutherford Medal.

In the end, the conference proved to be a successful bringing together of academic researchers, industry members, policy makers, media representatives and community groups, fulfilling the conference organisers' goal of stimulating constructive dialogue about the role of biotechnology in society.

Professor Bill Doolin

AUT University

Auckland, New Zealand

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