Genetics and Democracy: Deliberative Mini-Publics and GMO Decision-Making
Thursday, October 12, 2023
8:15 AM – 9:30 AM ET
Location: Essex C (Fourth Floor)
What should be the role of the public in weighing in on or even determining how to regulate or create policy for genetic technologies, such as prenatal testing or newborn sequencing? The role of public engagement in matters of moral importance has challenged bioethicists over the years who struggle with weighing the importance of expert authority with the imperative for social values. My project analyzes the use of deliberative mini-publics – randomly selected groups of lay participants – as important mechanisms for incorporating the views of a diverse body of people into the decision-making process of institutions of power. Meant to act as a “proxy for the people,” mini-publics create idealized spaces wherein participants can interact with experts and deliberate on values and priorities with one another. This allows voices that are ordinarily suppressed to be expressed in a diverse and moderated environment. In this paper, I examine their potential by conducting a historical inquiry into their use in the GMO case. When introduced to the public, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were met with excitement from some sectors of society and pervasive scrutiny from others. Fears of safety, the corruption of corporations, and the loss of livelihoods prompted many to call for greater regulation and control over GMOs and others to protest against them entirely. By exploring the creation of GMO mini-publics in response to this public outcry, I offer an account for how and when we can and should include the people in policy decision-making on genetic technologies.