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A forum for ‘doing society and genomics’
Author(s) -
Frow Emma K
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.1038/embor.2009.41
Subject(s) - genomics , political science , biology , environmental ethics , data science , public relations , computational biology , genetics , genome , computer science , gene , philosophy
The idea of ‘doing society and genomics’ raises interesting questions around what kinds of space, venue and activity might usefully contribute to such efforts. In 2004, the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC; Swindon, UK) funded the creation of a new and experimental institute for genomics and society work: the ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum (University of Edinburgh, UK). With the second phase of funding for the Forum commencing in August 2009, the ‘Doing Society and Genomics’ workshop, hosted by the Dutch Centre for Society and Genomics (CSG; Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands) in September 2008, provided a timely opportunity for reflection on the Forum's first few years of activity.> …Forum‐led initiatives attempt to synthesize and integrate EGN research with the thinking and activities of other communitiesThe Forum is part of the ESRC Genomics Network (EGN; www.genomicsnetwork.ac.uk), which is a UK‐wide network of social science research centres that examines social, legal, ethical and regulatory issues associated with developments in genomics and the life sciences more generally. Importantly, and unlike the three principal research centres in the network—Cesagen (Universities of Cardiff and Lancaster, UK), Egenis (University of Exeter, UK) and Innogen (University of Edinburgh and the Open University, UK)—the Forum is not primarily a research unit, despite being based within an academic institution. Nor is it a press office or communications unit of the sort increasingly associated with research centres. Instead, the Forum has a remit to help connect social science research and thinking with a range of actors, including natural scientists, policy representatives and public groups: “[The Forum] acts to integrate the diverse strands of social science research within and beyond the EGN; to develop links between social scientists and scientists working across the entire range of genomic science and technology; and to connect research in this …