The Emerging Politics of Genetic Biocontrol

Abstract

Biological threats such as invasive species or plant pests pose major challenges for global sustainable development. Different methods of genetic engineering are increasingly being explored as potential response options. Such methods may serve to control biological threats by releasing into the environment organisms with specific inheritable characteristics. This text outlines the emergence of such genetic biocontrol as a complex and contested new issue area in sustainability politics.

Keywords:

• invasive species
• genetic engineering
• genetic biocontrol
• diseases
• plant pests

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

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43 Evans and Palmer, note 11.

44 See de Campos et al., note 11, p. 16.

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49 De Campos et al., note 11.

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Florian Rabitz

Florian Rabitz is a chief researcher in the Research Group Civil Society and Sustainability at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania. He specializes in the global governance of technology and the environment. His work centers on the question of how to design fair and effective governance mechanisms that leverage novel technologies for environmental sustainability while simultaneously managing their diverse environmental, political, and social risks.