Germany: splicing genes, splitting society

Germany's 1990 Genetic Engineering Act was intended to overcome the public controversy which had raged there since the mid-1980s. Yet the conflict was perpetuated by the new law, both in its formulation and in its implementation. The Health Ministry was assigned the role of national Competent Authority because it was deemed more sympathetic to the biotechnology industry. Ministry officials impose a technocratic style upon the decision-making procedure, which can neither overcome public suspicion nor accommodate the well organised opposition in a meaningful dialogue. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.