Biotechnology has the potential to re-shape a variety of industries such as medicine, renewable energy and food production. 

With the support of Sciencewise, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) –  which later merged with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to become the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) – commissioned a public dialogue to explore public perceptions of Industrial Biotechnology (IB). In particular, it sought to understand what excites and worries people about IB as an emerging technology.

Between August and December 2008 two Citizens’ Group Meetings were held in London and Manchester, with a total of 48 public participants. 24 of the participants were reconvened to take part in a two-day deliberative workshop.

The workshops were delivered by Opinion Leader and the project was independently evaluated by KRSRE.

The findings from this dialogue informed BIS Industrial Biotechnology Innovation and Growth Team’s (IB-IGT) report, which contained a series of recommendations and a 2020 action plan for the IB sector.