Biotechnology is one of the fastest-growing and most controversial areas of scientific innovation and technology. As new developments occur, public debate has become more heated and grave concerns have been expressed about access to genetic information, labelling of genetically modified foods and human and animal cloning. This book presents a unique study of the relationship between new biotechnology and public perception, media coverage and policy formulation. It outlines a new conceptual framework and contains empirical studies on international controversies such as the cloning of Dolly the sheep and GM Soya.

Introduction: 1. Understanding the public sphere of biotechnology Martin W. Bauer and George Gaskell; Part I. The Framing of a New Technology: 1973-96: 2. Promise, problems and proxies: 25 years of European debate and regulation Helen Torgersen, Jurgen Hampel, Marie-Louise von Bergmann-Winberg, Eleanor Bridgman, John Durant, Edna Einsiedel, Bjorn Fjaestad, George Gaskell, Petra Grabner, Petra Hieber, Erling Jelsoe, Jesper Lassen, Athena Marouda-Chatjoulis, Torben Nielsen, Timo Rusanen, Georges Sakellaris, Franz Seifert, Carla Smink, Tomasz Twardowski and Merci Wambui Kamara; 3. Media coverage: trends and dynamics in the opinion-leading press Jan M. Gutteling, Anna Olofsson, Bjorn Fjaestad, Matthias Kohring, Alexander Goerke, Martin W. Bauer and Timo Rusanen. With the further co-operation of Agnes Allansdottir, Anne Berthomier, Suzanne de Cheveigne, Helle Frederiksen, George Gaskell, Martina Leonarz, Miltos Liakopoulos, Arne Thing Mortensen, Andrezj Przestalski, Georg Ruhrmann, Maria Rusanen, Michael Schanne, Franz Seifert, Angeliki Stathopoulou and Wolfgang Wagner; 4. The institutions of bioethics: a comparison of Denmark, France, Italy and Greece Jean-Christophe Galloux, Arne Thing Mortensen, Suzanne de Cheveigne, Agnes Allansdottir, Aigli Chatjouli, Georges Sakellaris; 5. Controversy, mass media coverage and public knowledge Martin W. Bauer and Heinz Bonfadelli; Part II. Public Representations in 1996: Structures and Functions: 6. Traditional blue and modern green resistance: the complexities of scepticism Torben Hviid Nielsen, Erling Jelsoe and Susanna Olsson; 7. The structures of public perceptions Cees Midden, Daniel Boy, Edna Einsiedel, Bjorn Fjaestad, George Gaskell, Miltos Liakopoulos, Jon Miller, Susanna Olsson and Wolfgang Wagner; 8. Regional culture - contextualising the knowledge deficit model Nicholas C. Allum, Daniel Boy and Martin Bauer; 9. Pandora's genes - images of gene technology and nature Wolfgang Werner, Nicole Kronberger, Nicholas C. Allum, Suzanne de Cheveigne, Carmen Diego, George Gaskell, Marcus Heinssen, Cees Midden, Marianne Odegaard, Susanna Olsson, Bianca Rizzo, Timo Rusanen and Angeliki Stathopoulou; Part III. The Watershed Years 1996/7: Two Case Studies: 10. Testing times - the reception of Round-Up Ready soya in Europe Jesper Lassen, Agnes Allansdottir, Miltos Liakopoulos, Arne Thing Mortensen and Anna Olofsson; 11. Brave new sheep - the clone named Dolly Edna Einsiedel, Agnes Allansdottir, Nicholas C. Allum, Martin W. Bauer, Anne Berthomier, Aigli Chatjouli, Suzanne de Cheveigne, Ronnie Downey, Jan M. Gutteling, Matthias Kohring, Martina Leonarz, Frederica Manzoli, Anna Olofsson, Andrezj Przestalski, Timo Rusanen, Franz Seifert, Angeliki Stathopoulou and Wolfgang Wagner; Part IV. The Transatlantic Puzzle: 12. Worlds apart? Public opinion in Europe and the USA George Gaskell, Paul Thompson and Nicholas C. Allum; Part V. Towards a Social Theory of New Technology: 13. The biotechnology movement: assimilating and accommodating the public sphere Martin W. Bauer and George Gaskell.