Scenarios on the future of biotechnology

The major areas of research and development in biotechnology are maturing at a rapid rate, and may soon converge with one another. These emerging biotechnology areas range from the development of new medicines and drugs, genetically engineered foods, biologically controlled industrial manufacturing processes, and biologically based computing devices to the creation of new industrial materials and devices based upon biological structures and the use of biotechnology in food production. Each of these research areas carries the potential for strong societal reaction. To explore the potential impact of biotechnology on society, two fundamental drivers that influence societal acceptance of biotechnology are described. First, the extent to which technological integration proceeds may strongly impact the way society uses and perceives biotechnology. Second, the degree to which the public eventually accepts biotechnologically derived products and processes as legitimate and reliable alternatives to current products may shape both market demand and public policy. Taken together, these drivers suggest four discrete alternative scenarios for the future of biotechnology. Implications of these scenarios are discussed.     

Pro-poor agricultural biotechnology: Can the international research system deliver the goods?

While global investment in agricultural research by the private sector is increasing with growth in developing country markets and the emergence of new technologies, complementary public sector investment is stagnating or declining in many developing countries. This review argues that the changing roles of the public and private sectors in generating new scientific knowledge may adversely affect the diffusion of explicitly pro-poor technologies—technologies that are simultaneously yield-enhancing and poverty-reducing. Comparing historical evidence from the Green Revolution with recent evidence from the emerging era of agricultural biotechnology, this review argues that a more pluralistic international system for agricultural research will be more responsive to poverty only if the strategic leadership role of the public sector is strengthened, certain research functions are reallocated to the private sector, and new policy and organizational mechanisms are used to stimulate pro-poor research in and for developing-country agriculture.     

Affect or information? Labeling policy and consumer valuation of rBST free and organic characteristics of milk

Using a labeling policy framework, we answer the question of whether attitude has an impact on consumers’ valuation of rBST-free and organic characteristics of milk. We utilize 2 years of consumer survey data and a hedonic model to estimate marginal effects of attitude on consumer valuation of rBST-free and organic milk. Findings indicate that in 2001 milk value was impacted by attitude, regardless of whether attitude was measured using an opinion based or behavioral construct. In 2004 the contribution of attitude to value was insignificant. Implications for labeling policy are discussed.     

生物技术在食品检测中的应用

随着世界的发展与进步,人们生活变得越来越便利,与此同时,社会问题也越来越突出,其中食品安全问题日益严重,无论是国家还是平常百姓都给予了高度的关注。传统的食品检测方法已经不能适应现代社会的发展要求,因此为了满足社会的发展需要,将生物技术运用在食品检测中,将生物技术所具有的特异性强、效率高、成本低等特点充分发挥出来,促进食品检测的有效进行。基于此,以此为出发点,对食品检测中如何应用好生物技术提出相关策略。     

The future of the self-image of the human being in the Age of Transhumanism, Neurotechnology and Global Transition

In the present moment of cultural and political transition, one question seems to become the center of most other societal and civilizational questions: will the basic self-perception of the human being change under the influence of the new “neurotechnologies” and its accompanying ideologies like “Human enhancement” and “Transhumanism”? And if yes, how? Applied consciousness research is currently one-sidedly understood as brain research, and it is carried out mainly by the Natural Sciences under the influence of the “Economic–Technological Complex” and its relatively narrow interests. With its paradigmatic materialism determining the cultural spread of its temporary findings, it is already modifying our imaginary about what a human being is, what its rational self-determination can be, and how a “good society” can work. What is at stake with the change related to the findings of the new “consciousness technologies” is not only the principal socio-philosophical status of the human “self” or “I”, but also the related concepts of humanism, open societies, individualism and rationality. Thus, the new neurotechnologies and their “neurophilosophies” are currently in the process of profoundly influencing the very basics of our cultural self-understanding, grown over centuries. This article discusses some of the implications of this development within the greater picture of the current “global mindset change”.     

The economic impacts of technology and climate change: New evidence from U.S. corn yields

Over the past century, U.S. farmers have been offered a steady stream of new agricultural technologies, and more recently, experienced climate change. Because these two events have been occurring simultaneously, identifying their separate effects is difficult, and misimputation is easy. This article explicitly examines the economics of technical change and the interaction between weather and technology as revealed in a half century of panel data on U.S. Midwest rainfed state‐average corn yields. Observed yields reflect two components: yield potential and damage to the potential caused by weather and pests. Yield potential is modeled as a stochastic production frontier where nitrogen fertilization, public corn research, and introduction and adoption of biotech corn seeds impact yield potential and excess heat impacts nitrogen productivity. The yield‐damage/damage‐control function permits biotech corn plants to abate adverse effects of weather and pest events. Results include the following: nitrogen use, public corn research, and biotech seed‐corn adoption increase yield potential; soil moisture stress reduces yield potential, and excess heat severely reduces nitrogen productivity. Biotech corn plants abate yield damage caused by soil moisture stress but not excess heat.     

Understanding novelty creation in exploration networks—Structural and relational embeddedness jointly considered

In exploration networks the key-organisational question is not how to organise a division of labour but instead how to create novelty. The aim of this paper is to develop an understanding of how such novelty in exploration networks is created. Based on an empirical analysis of the multimedia and biotechnology industries in the Netherlands, this paper shows that exploration networks face a trade-off between diversity and selection. Moreover, the findings indicate that depending on the type of exploration task, exploration networks need to make a combination of density and tie strength in such a way that diversity and selection are aligned. The paper concludes, among others, that the views of Burt, Coleman and Granovetter should not be seen as contradictory, but rather as proponents of complementary views.     

The effects of business–university alliances on innovative output and financial performance: a study of publicly traded biotechnology companies

Companies in the biotechnology industry face major challenges in developing and commercializing new products. Focusing on publicly traded biotechnology firms that are not members of university incubators or research parks, this paper argues that the links these companies develop with universities can have beneficial effects on a company's operations. Analysis of 2457 alliances undertaken by 147 biotechnology firms shows that companies with university linkages have lower research and development (R&D) expenses while having higher levels of innovative output. However, the results do not support the proposition that companies with university linkages achieve higher financial performance than similar firms without such linkages.     

Will the TRIPS Agreement Foster Appropriate Biotechnologies for Developing Countries?

While almost all of the investment in agricultural biotechnology to date has been in temperate crops suitable for developed countries, developing countries are the greatest potential beneficiaries of this major technological advance. To realise this potential requires investment in crops appropriate to climatic and agronomic conditions in developing countries. Protection of intellectual property rights is a necessary condition for the private sector to invest in appropriate biotechnologies. This paper develops a game theoretic model of a bioscience firm that adapts a new technology to a range of agronomic conditions in response to the enforcement of intellectual property rights in a developed and a developing country. Over a range of potential penalties, low levels of enforcement by the developing country remain endemic despite the desire to have the bioscience firm adapt the biotechnology to its local conditions. In particular, the trade penalties contained in the Agreement on Trade‐Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights are likely to be ineffective. The developing country might increase enforcement if the developed country was more aggressive in liberalising agriculture trade because there would be greater symmetry in the benefits of the technology.     

浅析高校《食品生物技术》教学方法

普通本科院校教学中,由于《食品生物技术》的课程特点以及学生知识面的限制,对教学方法和教学内容都有较高的要求。本文结合实际教学情况,探讨了科学史料、多媒体教学手段和科学研究对于该门课程的重要性,旨在打破传统的教学模式,探索出有利于教学、有助于提高学生学习效率的教学方法。