‘Mapping research and governance needs for gene drives’

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Acknowledgements

The editors would first like to thank the contributors to this special issue, who offered their expertise, creativity, time, and energy to create a truly interdisciplinary analysis of the emerging field of gene drive research. We also thank all those who attended the gene drive workshop at North Carolina State University in 2016, whose ideas helped inspire the papers that follow. Erik Fisher, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Responsible Innovation, provided thoughtful guidance and support at every step of the publication process. We also acknowledge the many scholars who offered their expert judgments and constructive criticisms of manuscript drafts as part of the invisible labor of peer-review. Finally, support from the staff at the Genetic Engineering and Society Center, including Sharon Stauffer and Patti Mulligan, make projects like this possible, impactful, and more enjoyable.

Notes on contributors

Jason Delborne joined the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University in 2013. His research focuses on emerging technologies, responsible innovation, and public engagement, drawing on the interdisciplinary field of Science, Technology, and Society (STS). He served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM) committee that produced the report, Gene Drives on the Horizon: Advancing Science, Navigating Uncertainty, and Aligning Research with Public Values (2016) and was appointed in 2017 to the NASEM committee to investigate the potential for biotechnology to improve forest health.

Jennifer Kuzma is the Goodnight-NCGSK Foundation Distinguished Professor in Social Sciences and co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University. Previously, she was a faculty member in science and technology policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota (2003–2013); study director at the National Academies of Science in Washington DC for genetic engineering and bioterrorism (1999–2003); and a AAAS Risk Policy Fellow at the US Dept. of Agriculture (1997–1999). She has over 100 scholarly publications on emerging technologies and governance; and has been studying genetic engineering and its societal aspects for over two decades.

Fred Gould works in the area of ecology and evolutionary biology. An elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, he conducts empirical and theoretical studies of insect pests to improve food production and human and environmental health. He chaired the NASEM committee that reviewed over twenty years of research and experience with genetically engineered crops to produce the comprehensive report, Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects (2016).

Emma Frow is an assistant professor with a joint appointment at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on standards and governance in contemporary life sciences, with a particular focus on synthetic biology.

Caroline Leitschuh is a doctoral candidate in zoology and a member of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University. She studies how rearing environment affects mouse anxiety-related and exploratory behavior, in the context of eradication of invasive mice from islands. She also is interested in facilitating communication between disparate scientific disciplines and between researchers and the public.

Jayce Sudweeks is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Public Administration at North Carolina State University. His research investigates the public policy processes involved in the use and governance of emerging technologies such as genetic engineering and synthetic biology.

ORCID

Jason Delborne http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6436-782X

Jayce Sudweeks http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8449-169X

Additional information

Funding

The gene drive workshop at North Carolina State University in February 2016, where drafts of these papers were first presented, was funded by the National Science Foundation’s Science in Society Program [grant number SES-1533990] with additional co-funding by the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University and the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University. Leitschuh and Sudweeks were also supported as IGERT fellows in Genetic Engineering and Society by the National Science Foundation [grant number 1068676]. The views, however, are those of the authors and not these institutions.