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C u r r e n t P
R O J E C T S |
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Bio-objects
and their Boundaries: Governing Matters at the Intersection of
Society, Politics and Science |
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Europe seeks
to become the most dynamic knowledge-based economy of the globe.
The production and circulation of bio-objects, such as stem cells,
chimera, tissue samples or genetically modified organisms, play
a key part in this endeavour. This COST Action seeks to develop
novel interdisciplinary tools in order to enhance our understanding
of bio-objects, their production and circulation in time and in
space, and their governance. The core questions that this Action
seeks to answer are: |
• how
are the boundaries between human and animal, organic and non-organic,
living and the non-living opened up? |
• how
does the governance of bio-objects play out at different levels,
from the level of the European Union and its Member States to
the subpolitical level, and finally in clinics and laboratories? |
| • how do bio-objects change
social relations? |
The Action will
bring together a group of young scholars across a range of disciplines
in collaboration with more experienced researchers, including
those from the bioscience community. It will develop models of
the bio-objectification process, the policy challenges and political
and social resources needed to address this, and how both will
play a key role in delivering the knowledge-based economy sought
in the Lisbon Agenda. |
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| BIOBANKS
AND THEIR PUBLICS |
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In
this project we look at the public perception of biobanks. The
development of larger biobank projects such as in the UK and Iceland
has been a socially and politically much debated process, and
there is a growing body of social science literature about these
projects. However, there are only a few studies that shed light
on the relationship between different national publics and biobanks,
how different publics perceive biobanks, and which issues are
identified as important by various stake-holders. And nothing
is known about the relationship between biobank projects, their
increasingly transnational ramifications, and the public perception
of the transnationalization of biobank research. While it is relatively
clear how to engage citizens in debates and exchanges about national
or regional biobank projects, these questions remain to be answered
for projects involving multi-actor/multi-country cooperations.
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Starting
in 2009, until 2011 we conducted comparative qualitative and quantitative
research in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom. The research team is composed of Herbert
Gottweis, Jacqueline Broerse, Ursula Gottweis, Abbi Hobbs, Maria
Pashou, Karoliina Snell, Johannes Starkbaum, Alexandra Soulier,
Sally Stares, and Reinout van Koten. |
Financial
support for the research has come from the Biobanking and Biomolecular
Ressources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI) project, supported
under the European Union 7th Framework Programme for Science and
Technological Development, and the GEN-AU (Austrian Genome Research)
project Genome Austria Tissue Bank (GATiB). |
A
number of publications on the different countries studied and
under a comparative perspective are in preparation. |
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| Privacy Regimes:
Variations and Transformations in an age of (post-) Genomics |
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Increasing amounts
of bioinformation are collected, stored, and subsequently disseminated
and used in collaborative life-science research environments.
Exceptionally large amounts of potentially sensitive data that
are collected and stored in biobanks that are therefore key insertion
points for our study of privacy-related issues in an age of (post-)
genomics.
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“Privat
Gen” investigates the existing privacy regimes - which encompass
statutory regulation (both national and international), self-regulation,
and technology-based privacy instruments - in relation to (post-)
genomic research in general and more specifically in relation
to the creation of large-scale life science infrastructures in
Austria, Finland, and Germany. Each national case will be first
studied from a different disciplinary angle by the consortium’s
four subprojects (juridical, ethical, sociological, and political
science) and subsequently integrated into a coherent governance
framework. |
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Furthermore,
the privacy related complexity of these endeavours is amplified
by increasing scientific collaborations that operate on a transnational
scale. Private Gen’s selection of case studies reflects
this trend, since the cases under investigation play an important
role in an effort to create the pan-European Biobanking and Biomolecular
Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI). They are therefore
excellent locations to study particular dynamics of privacy regimes
that occur on a transnational scale. |
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| Genome Austria
Tissue Bank (GATiB III) |
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In
GEN-AU III liegt der Schwerpunkt des Biobanken-Projekts auf der
Sammlung von Proben und Daten sowie der internationalen Integration. |
Das Subprojekt
fünf von GATiB III (From GATiB to BBMRI: Biobank
Projects and Their Publics), finanziert durch das GEN-AU-Förderprogramm
(Österreichisches Genome Projekt: Bundesministerium für
Wissenschaft und Forschung, BMWF) und unterstützt durch BBMRI
(Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure),
mit einer Laufzeit vom 01.10.2009 bis zum 30.04.2012, beschäftigt
sich mit der internationalen Integration von Biobanken. Mittels
Fokusgruppen werden öffentliche Einstellungen zu zentralen
Themen im Bereich Biobanken und deren internationale Vernetzung,
in unterschiedlichen Ländern (Österreich, Frankreich,
Niederlande, Deutschland, Griechenland und Großbritannien),
erarbeitet. Die Methoden (Fokusgruppenforschung und computergestützte
Datenanalyse) werden im Sommersemester 2010 im Rahmen der Lehrveranstaltung
„Angewandte Fokusgruppenforschung“ (Master Methodencurriculum)
an Studierende weitergegeben. |
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| Biomarkers:
Towards the Governance of an emerging medical Technology |
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This project
studies the governance of biomarkers, a newly emerging genomics-based
medical technology. We study the complex and difficult process
of biomarkers moving from early scientific development stages
to industrial development and medical application. Our focus is
on analyzing the complex ordering of the relationship between
scientific-technological processes and developments, the medical-clinical
system, industry, society, and political regulation in the field
of biomarkers. The successful introduction and application of
biomarkers, we argue, depends on the interaction, coordination,
and management of a large set of variables. We call this coordination
and management process biomarker governance. Just as biomarkers
are an emerging bio-medical technology, their governance is emerging,
still open, and in many respects experimental. The project is
funded by the ELSA-GEN-AU Programme of the Austrian Ministry for
Science and Research. The planned project duration is from October
2009 to May 2012. |
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| DNA and immigration:
Social, political, and ethical implications of DNA analysis for
family reunification ('Immigene'), |
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The project aims
at exploring the social, political and ethical implications of
DNA analysis for family reunification in three European countries
- Austria, Finland, and Germany. The general objective of the
project is to reconstruct the historical process and the institutional
logics of DNA analysis in a comparative and philosophically informed
perspective. The project consists of a consortium of four member
institutions, related to four subprojects – three country
case studies and a philosophical subproject.
Subproject Philosophy:
Martin Weiss and Jacob Guggenheimer, University of Klagenfurt
(please visit their poster at this conference)
Subproject Austria: Ursula Naue, University of Vienna
Subproject Finland: Ilpo Helén and Anna-Maria Tapaninen
, University of Helsinki
Subproject Germany: Thomas Lemke (project coordinator) and Torsten
Heinemann, Frankfurt University
The three country case studies exemplify different
approaches towards the issue of DNA analysis in the context of
family reunification. Comparing these three trajectories to regulate
family reunification will improve our understanding of the historical
and institutional dynamics.
The project has six main objectives. It will:
· analyse the current legal framework and the ethical,
societal and political implications of using DNA analysis for
immigration purposes · develop a general understanding
of how DNA analysis is affecting the formulation of immigration
policies and politics · identify emerging cross-national
patterns of the use of DNA analysis for immigration purposes ·
examine different ways of using genetic testing for immigration
purposes in national contexts and make it possible to understand
the implications for society and politics · evaluate immigration
DNA analysis against the background of a changing understanding
of the concept of ‘family’ · provide knowledge
and recommendations for policymaking and for how the ethical,
legal, societal and political issues in this area should be addressed
in immigration policies.
Fur further and more detailed information please
visit www.immigene.eu
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