Consensus & Controversies in Animal Biotechnology An Interactive Legislative Approach to Animal Biotechnology in Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands

Advances in animal biotechnology have led to major increases in the human ability to control the process of life. Yet, biotechnology is controversial. While it has led to various new developments in medical science that have had a positive influence on people's lives, it has also incited disagreement on various levels. Along with developments in biotechnology have come questions about the moral impact of new technologies. Biotechnology has brought to the forefront questions about how we, as human beings, should behave towards nature, towards animals, and towards each other. Both in academic studies and in legislative practice, there has been a growing interest in alternative legislative approaches for addressing morally controversial issues. In particular, communicative, symbolic, or interactive techniques seem to hold promise as alternative ways of developing legislation on issues characterized by strong moral disagreements, such as life-altering technologies. This book examines three lines of research on the interactive legislative approach in order to reach an ideal-typical model that combines a descriptive perspective with normative claims about how best to engage with complex regulatory issues that have a moral impact.