Self-fulfilling prophecies of the European <i>knowledge-based bio-economy</i>: the discursive shaping of institutional and policy frameworks in the bio-pharmaceuticals sector

Discourses matter. They help to shape institutions and policies. A new discourse has emerged in recent EU innovation policy centred on the idea of a knowledge-based bio-economy (KBBE). It is officially defined as ‘the sustainable, eco-efficient transformation of renewable biological resources into health, food, energy and other industrial products.’ The KBBE agenda links current problem diagnoses, research priorities, technological innovation, and societal benefits. In analysing the KBBE discourse, this paper draws on the sociology of technological expectations, which emphasises the performative, mobilising and self-fulfilling roles of such future-oriented visions. For example, the KBBE agenda shapes European research and innovation priorities in the bio-pharmaceutical sector. It frames socially relevant bio-knowledge in terms of pre-competitive research which can eventually facilitate new commercial products and patentable knowledge. Moreover, the agenda defines new institutional and policy frameworks necessary to realise societal benefits from these products and knowledge

The GAMY Project: young people’s attitudes to genetics in the South Wales valleys

This paper explores young people’s attitudes to genetics. It describes a qualitative study involving a group of teenagers in a deprived South Wales valley town over a period of 18 months. The GAMY (Genetics and Merthyr Youth) Project involved a series of interactions with participants, including 2 interviews, 4 group days and 4 genetics tasks through which these young people learned about, and then reflected upon, issues relating to genetics and health. We have gathered data about the informed attitudes of teenagers to genetics based on deliberative learning and reflection over a long period of time, and as such this paper provides useful insights into the underlying values that are guiding young people’s views and the factors that are shaping their responses to new genetic technologies. Attitudes to genetics are complex and not easily generalisable. There were low levels of familiarity with, and knowledge of, genetics from the outset. Most young people did not have pre-existing attitudes towards genetics and had given little or no thought to the topic before the project began. However, levels of awareness and general genetic literacy increased as the project progressed. This study suggests that over time young people can develop an awareness of genetics that makes sense to them; they demonstrate that they can think creatively about genetics, and they are able to engage in considering genetic and other risk factors when thinking about health and disease

Is there a medialization of climate science? Results from a survey of German climate scientists

The relation between science and the media has recently been termed a medialization of science. The respective literature argues that interaction of scientists with the media and journalists as well as scientists’ adaptation to media criteria has increased. This article analyzes whether German climate scientists are indeed “medialized.” The results of a survey among 1,130 scientists suggest that medialization phenomena exist in climate science but that they differ significantly among different subgroups. While media interactions are more common for high-ranking scientists, an adaptation to media criteria is more typical for scientists with less experience