Team:UC Davis/Beyond

Cyantific: UC Davis iGEM 2016

"Beyond Artificial” Policy Paper

Abstract:

Stemming from the empirical data we have collected from our stakeholder interviews and IRB reviewed survey, as well as in depth governmental and science policy research, we have developed some policy considerations for food labeling for the products of genetic engineering globally, with an examination of extremely recent regulatory changes in the United States as a text case. We propose that the terms “natural” and “artificial” have become virtually meaningless as applied to many products of Synthetic Biology but especially to our specific project as it complicates, expands, and encounters a web of concerns around the meanings of these terms. We propose incremental and exponential movements toward a wealth of labels that allow accurate information to consumers and open a realistic dialogue about the current human food system.

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