Abstract
This paper examines effective ways to facilitate public debates on advanced technology research, focusing on genetic modification. Currently, how to regulate field researches on genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) has been an important policy issue in many countries. Neighboring residents, farmers, as well as consumer and environmental groups have expressed their concerns that outside cultivation of GM crops might lead to crossing between GM and non-GM crops. In order to address this situation, national debates on GMO research took places in New Zealand (2000), the Netherlands (2001), and the UK (2002). This paper reviews those national debates in New Zealand and the UK, focusing on backgrounds, methods, and impacts, and considers policy implications to the Japanese context.
