Complexity of public interest in ethical analysis of genomics: Ethical reflections on salmon genomics/aquaculture

Authors

  • James D Tansey James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization
  • Michael Burgess W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics

Keywords:

salmon genomics, public consultation, focus groups, aquaculture

Abstract

This paper describes the use of focus groups to support ethical analysis of pubic interests related to genomics and biotechnology. This work represents one “stream” of the research encompassed by the Genome Canada funded project, Democracy, Ethics and Genomics: Consultation, Deliberation and Modeling. The objectives of the paper are to describe the moral dimensions and perspectives of the issues raised by focus group participants, to assess the information required to support informed dialogue about issues, and to describe some necessary components of ethical analysis of these issues. As such, the paper presents a sample analysis which the reader can compare with the other empirical approach in the project, Norms Evolving in Response to Dilemmas (NERD) (see Ahmad et al., 2006). The purpose of this comparison is to evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of two approaches for assessing public input on common topics—in this case, salmon genomics and aquaculture—a surprisingly rare activity (Abelson et al., 2003).

Author Biography

James D Tansey, James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization

James Tansey is an interdisciplinary researcher trained in environmental sciences, sociology and human geography. He was appointed to the James Martin Institute in January 2005. James' work applies cultural theory to environmental and social risk management, public participation in technology assessment and population health. James Tansey graduated from the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia in 1999 and he has returned to the UK after five years at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. His PhD thesis explored the theoretical and methodological relevance of cultural theory through a case study that examined the social impacts of the break-up of the Soviet Union on a rural community in Lithuania. For current projects, visit: http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/html/faculty_profile.asp?ID=6658

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Published

2006-07-03

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2006)

Section

Articles