Source: NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV submitted to NRP
INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO EVALUATE SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS AND FOSTER SUSTAINABILITY OF GENETIC ENGINEERING AND NANOTECHNOLOGY IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1028027
Grant No.
2022-67023-36730
Cumulative Award Amt.
$649,515.00
Proposal No.
2021-10786
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jan 15, 2022
Project End Date
Jan 14, 2027
Grant Year
2022
Program Code
[A1642]- AFRI Foundational - Social Implications of Emerging Technologies
Recipient Organization
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV
(N/A)
RALEIGH,NC 27695
Performing Department
Applied Ecology
Non Technical Summary
This project will assess the societal implications of genetic engineering (GE) and nanotechnology used in food and agriculture (agrifood) and identifies strategies to ensure their sustainble futures according to diverse stakeholder perspectives. The proposed work advances the "Economic and Social Implications of Food and Agricultural Technologies" Program Area (Priority Code A1642).The project has three primary objectives: (1) assess societal implications and improve decisions of GE- and nano-agrifoods through benefit-risk evaluations; (2) identify strategies to ensure sustainable futures of GE- and nano-agrifoods through stakeholder engagement and exchange; and (3) develop interdiciplinary education and training opportunities to better evaluate societal implications of novel agrifood technologies.Key project outcomes include critical and timely information on benefit-risk evaluations of GE- and nano-agrifoods using output that can be easily communicated to stakeholders. Other outcomes include stakeholder perceptions of GE- and nano-agrifoods and how well they align with sustainable agrifood systems, as well as key strategies to ensure their sustainable futures based on diverse perspectives. Interdisciplinary education and training approaches will also be developed, including a range of workshops, symposia, and researcher-exchanges, to strengthen evaluations of societal implications of novel agrifood technologies. Project outcomes will be disseminated through peer-reviewed manuscripts, a policy brief, conference presentations, and social media platforms.Overall, project findings will help researchers, innovators, policy-makers, and other decision-makers (1) make informed decisions on GE- and nano-agrifoods using a range of benefit and risk parameters, (2) understand societal implications of GE- and nano-agrifoods based on stakeholder perceptions, and (3) identify best practices for evaluating societal implications of novel agrifood technologies according to diverse viewpoints.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
25%
Applied
50%
Developmental
25%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
8037410303080%
8036220303020%
Knowledge Area
803 - Sociological and Technological Change Affecting Individuals, Families, and Communities;

Subject Of Investigation
7410 - General technology; 6220 - Marketing, processing, and supply firms other than cooperatives;

Field Of Science
3030 - Information and communication;
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this project is to assess the societal implications of genetic engineering (GE) and nanotechnology used in food and agriculture and identify strategies to ensure their sustainable futures according to diverse stakeholder perspectives. Overall, this work supports the responsible development of GE- and nano-agrifoods and, in turn, helps contribute to more sustainable U.S. food and agriculture systems that are responsive to societal preferences and needs. This project has three primary objectives. First,Objective 1aims to assess societal implications and improve decision-making of GE- and nano-agrifood products through benefit-risk evaluations.Objective 2aims to identify strategies to ensure sustainable development and use of GE- and nano-agrifoods through multi-stakeholder engagement and exchange.Objective 3aims to develop interdisciplinary education and training opportunities to better evaluate societal implications of new and novel agrifood technologies.
Project Methods
The project will accomplish its objectives through three main project steps in addition to a step focused on dissemination.To assess implications and improve decision-making of genetic engineering (GE)and nano-agrifoods through benefit-risk evaluations (Objective 1), we will compile interdisciplinary data and information on GE- and nano-agrifoods and conduct benefit-risk evaluations using a multi-step process in Step 1. First, we will conduct an initial horizon scan of GE- and nano-agrifoods and then select the final GE- and nano-agrifoods for futher analyses in case studies. Next, we will identify key parameters on benefits and risks to evaluate the GE- and nano-agrifood case studies, and conduct a literature review to develop data and information on the case studies. Then we will conduct benefit-risk evaluations using a multi-step process and extra key findings for use in the next step of the project that engages stakeholders.To identify strategies to ensure the sustainable development and use of GE- and nano-agrifoods according to diverse perspectives, we will develop and use a web-based stakeholder platform in Step 2. In this work, we will first set-up and establish a web-based stakeholder engagement platform. Next, we will identify diverse stakeholder participants and invite them to participate in the stakeholder engagement platform. We will next develop and finalize the engagement platform content, and launch the web-based stakeholder engagement study. Finally, we will compile and analyze the results.To develop interdisciplinary education and training opportunities to help early career researchers evaluate societal implications of novel agrifood technologies, we will develop various opportunities focused on ensuring sustainable agrifood systems in Step 3. In this step, we will develop interdisciplinary education and training opportunities, including workshops, symposia, interdisciplinary research exhcnages, and the production of outreach materials focused on sustainable GE- and nano-agrifood futures. In this work, we will develop, host, and participate in interdisciplinary workshops and symposia, aiming for six symposia and three workshops. We will also develop an interdisciplinary, short-term, research exchange program for researchers working in GE- and/or nano-agrifoods within our team at NC State and Iowa State,aiming for a total of 6-8 researcher-exchanges each year across teams at NC State and Iowa State.To disseminate the main outcomes and findings from our project, we will utilize various mechanisms for outreach and dissemination in Step 4. Key findings from Steps 1-3 will be disseminated through peer-reviewed manuscripts, scientific presentations, a policy brief, as well as social media platforms utilized by our research team and associated consortia including GES, RTNN, and the Gene-Edited Foods Project.

Progress 01/15/24 to 01/14/25

Outputs
Target Audience:In the third year of the project, our outreach efforts targeted stakeholders involved in developing, using, managing, or making decisions about new and emerging technologies in the food and agriculture sectors. These stakeholders included industry representatives, start-ups, government and regulatory bodies, academia, non-profits, and advocacy groups. To engage these audiences, we organized and participated in various education and outreach activities, including conference and seminar presentations, stakeholder workshops, and media features. Specifically, the project team delivered nine conference presentations and hosted one stakeholder workshop focused on integrating stakeholder perspectives into research, innovation, and decision-making related to novel agrifood technologies--particularly genetic engineering and nanotechnology--as well as associated policy developments. Additionally, we contributed to media interviews, including features in Science and Wired magazine. Beyond these engagements, we published six academic articles and produced one Extension publication on genetic engineering. These efforts aimed to ensure that our findings reached a broad audience across industry, government, academia, and non-profits, fostering informed discussions on emerging technologies in food and agriculture systems. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided a number of opportunities for training and professional development. For students, there are 3 PhD students directly involved in conducting the work carried out in Steps 1-3, as well as a MS student. We also conducted student exchange opportunities at NC State and Iowa State University, where PhD a student in natural and social sciences interacted witha lab of a biotechnology developer, another PhD student in social science visited the lab of a natural scientist, and we hosted a visiting professor in our interdisciplinary risk research group at NC State. In addition, our lab also hosts another PhD student currently in the environmental law program at Yale. Students involved in this project are also played active roles in developing the stakeholder engagement platform andfacilitated focus groups during the in-person stakeholder workshop held in May 2024. Further, the students were all involved in giving conference presentations this year at the Society for Risk Analysis (held in Austin in Dec. 2024) and AAAS held in Boston (2025)- reporting on the results of the grant. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results obtained from this grant have been disseminated through conference presentations, stakeholder workshops, as well as peer-reviewed journal and Extension publications. This includes the items mentioned under products and other products. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we plan to finalize the data analysis portion of our online stakeholder engagement platform and then write up the results in peer-reviewed publications. This includes: analyzing the data (both quantitative and qualitative data) provided by stakeholders, identifying key themes, and then writing up the findings and publishing the results in peer-reviewed journal articles. We also plan to present this work at upcoming conferences, including the GETS conference in May 2025,SRA Europe conference in June 2025, and SRA Annual meeting in Washington DC in December 2025.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? To achieve Objectives 1 and 2, we analyzed and published findings from a stakeholder survey identifying key parameters for assessing novel agrifood technologies (N = 77 valid responses; Wei et al. 2023), developed three separate stakeholder surveys to explore views on the benefits and risks of genetic engineering and nanotechnology in food and agriculture (including assessments of science and technology beliefs, six case studies, overall attitudes, and an exit survey for an engagement study), created six case studies outlining the applications, benefits, and risks of genetic engineering and nanotechnology in food and agriculture, and developed an online stakeholder engagement platform to examine stakeholder perspectives on these technologies, their benefits and risks, and strategies for ensuring their sustainable future through a structured five-step process. The online engagement study took place in June and July 2024, with 65 participants, and we are currently analyzing the data. To achieve Objective 3, we organized and participated in workshops and seminars to educate and train stakeholders and researchers on evaluating the societal implications of novel agrifood technologies, including leading a symposium at the Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting (Austin, December 2024) where we presented preliminary results from the online engagement platform, hosting a stakeholder workshop at NC State (May 2024) on the role of genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and alternative proteins in building sustainable food systems, and participating in a workshop at the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative headquarters (Washington, D.C., July 2024) to discuss responsible innovation and engagement, particularly in the use of nanotechnology in food and agriculture. These events engaged stakeholders across government, academia, and industry in discussions on sustainability, responsible innovation, and stakeholder engagement. To achieve Objective 4, we produced two peer-reviewed publications arising from this grant in the last reporting period, in addition to three previously published under this grant, participated in media interviews (Science and Wired magazines), and published an NC State Extension report on genetic engineering as a direct result of this grant. Additionally, our team published four other peer-reviewed articles related to this work, funded through other sources.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Grieger, K. 2024. Opportunities for reducing risk of solar geoengineering through learning from other emerging technologies: A comparative analysis with gene drives. Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), Austin, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Loschin, N. Grieger, K. 2024. Evaluating environmental risk assessment parameters and processes for genetically engineered crops in select case studies. Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), Austin, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Horgan, M. Grieger, K. 2024. Advancing risk governance processes for novel agrifood technologies through online engagement platforms. Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), Austin, TX.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Grieger, K., Wiener, J. Kuzma, J. 2024. Improving Risk Governance Strategies via Two-way Learning: A Comparative Analysis of Solar Geoengineering and Gene Drives. Environment Systems and Decisions, 44: 1054-1067. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-024-09979-6
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Kuzma, J. Science-Values Nexus in Governance of Heritable Genome Modifications in Animals. National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Workshop for Committee on Heritable Genetic Modifications in Food Animals. Washington, DC. (invited speaker) February 27, 2024
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Grieger, K. 2025. Fostering Sustainability of Novel AgriFood Technologies. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Larter, C. Grieger, K. 2024. Stakeholder perceptions of risks and benefits related to novel agrifoods. Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), Austin, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Grieger, K. 2024. Opportunities for bi-directional learning across two emerging technologies: Comparative analysis of gene drives and solar geoengineering. Governance of Emerging Technologies and Science (GETS), Phoenix, AZ.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Lowry, G., Giraldo, J.P., Steinmetz, N., Avellan, A., Demirer, G., Ristroph, K., Wang, G., Hendren, C., Alabi, C., Caparco, A., Da Silva, W., Gonzalez, I., Grieger, K., Jeon, S.J., Khodakovskaya, M., Kohay, H., Kumar, V., Muthuramalingam, R., Poffenbarger, H., Tilton, R., White, J. 2024. Opportunities and Challenges to Realizing Nano-enabled Precision Delivery in Plants. Nature Nanotechnology, 19, 12551269. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-024-01667-5.
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Ahmad, J., Grunden, A. and Kuzma, J. (2024). Biotechnology Executive Order Opens Door for Regulatory Reform and Social Acceptance of Genetically Engineered Microbes in Agriculture. GM Crops & Food 15(1) https://doi.org/10.1080/21645698.2024.2381294.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Kendig C, Selfa T, Thompson P, Anthony R, Bauchspies W, Blue G, Curry H, Das A, Harrison R, Henke C, Jin S, Kuzma J, Lipschitz F, Richter K, Ruelle M, Silberg T, Takahashi B. (2024). The need for more inclusive deliberation on ethics and governance in food biotechnology. Journal of Responsible Innovation https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2024.2304383
  • Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Budnick, A., Butoto, E., Loschin, N., Mainello-Land, A., Furgurson, J., Brown, R., Ferraro, G., Alirigia, R., Abugu, M., Stokes, R., Gillespie, C. and Speicher, N. 2025. Questions and Consequences of Omics in Genetically Engineered Crop Regulation. Plant-Environment Interactions, 6: e70033. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pei3.70033
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Grieger, K., Loschin, N., Barnhill, K., Gould, F. 2024. Lets Talk about Genetic Engineering: A Guide to Understanding Genetic Engineering and Its Applications in Food, Agriculture, and the Environment. NC State Extension publication. Available: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/lets-talk-about-genetic-engineering
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2025 Citation: Cimadori, I., Di Concetto, A., Grieger, K. The Protection of Selectively Bred and Gene Edited Farm Animals under EU Law. European Journal of Risk Regulation  Accepted
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2025 Citation: Cummings, C. 2025. Navigating Ethical Frontiers: Biotechnology and AI in Society. AAAS, Boston, MA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Grieger, K. 2024. Improving sustainability of novel agrifoods through risk-benefit evaluations and stakeholder perceptions. Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), Austin, TX.


Progress 01/15/23 to 01/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:During the second year of the project, the target audiences of this work were stakeholders interested or involved in developing, using, managing, or making decisions regarding new and novel technologies in food and agriculture sectors, including industry, start-up companies, government or regulatory bodies, academia, non-profits, or advocacy groups. Efforts to reach these target audiences included organizing and/or participating in various education and outreach events, giving conference or seminar presentations, as well as being featured in a podcast. For example, the project team organized and/or participated in 7 workshop or seminarson the importance of integrating stakeholder perspectives and needs in research, innovation, and decision-making involved in novel agrifood technology development (primarily genetic engineering and nanotech) as well as associated policy developments. We also participated in a podcast on nanomaterials in food (Finding Genius Podcast), 2 NC State recorded videos on genetic engineering in food and agriculture (Future of Genetic Engineering: Broad Transgenic Lanscape), and gave 10 conference presentations over the past year. Further, in addition to academic publications, we also produced 1 Extension publication (in review), a blog, and authored a report on regulating gene-edited organisms. The purpose of conducting these various education and outreach activities were to make sure that the findings of this work would reach a broad audience of stakeholders, across industry, government, academic, and non-profits interested in or involved in exploring emerging technologies in food and agriculture systems. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided a number of opportunities for training and professional development. For students, there are 3 PhD students directly involved in conducting the work carried out in Steps 1-3, as well as a MS student. In addition, we had a postdoc working with us on the project during part of the year as well. In addition, we supervised undergraduate students at NC State to investigate environmental risks of the 6 case studies involving genetic engineering and nanotechnology in conjunction with an Environmental Science undergraduate course(Spring semester 2023), gave a guest lecture in a College of Veterinary Medicine graduate level classon gene edited animals (Jan. 2023), and trained teachers on working on interdisciplinary projects involving novel plant biotechnologies (July 2023). We also conducted student exchange opportunities at NC State and Iowa State University, where PhD astudentin natural and social sciencesspent a semester visiting a lab of a biotechnology developer, another PhD student in social science visited the lab of a natural scientist, and we hosted a visiting professor in our interdisciplinary risk research group at NC State. In addition, our lab also hostsanother PhD student currently in the environmental law program at Yale. Students involved in this project are also playing active roles in developing the stakeholder surveys included in the online stakeholder engagement platform (to be launched in June 2024) as well as to facilitate focus groups during the in-person stakeholder workshop planned for May 2024. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results obtained from this grant have been disseminated through conference presentations, stakeholder workshops, seminars, training events, as well as peer-reviewed journal and Extension publications. This includes the items mentioned under products and other products. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we plan to finalize the online stakeholder engagement platform and then conduct our stakeholder study, planned for June 2024. This includes: finalizing all content on the engagement platform, including 5 planned activities for participants, obtaining IRB approval, containing participants, testing the platform, and launching the study. After the study is conducted, we will analyze the data, including stakeholder views of 6 case studies that involve genetic engineering and nanotechnology in food/ag, how their views are associated with their science-technology beliefs and/or stakeholder sector, and their suggestions/recommendations for strategies to ensure their sustainable development and use. We will also investigate how stakeholders score the case studies according to select benefit-risk parameters. After the results are analyzed, we will write -up the findings and publish the results in a peer-reviewed journal article. We will also present this work at upcoming conferences and workshop. In addition to the online stakeholder engagement platform, we will also host an in-person stakeholder workshop on the use of novel agrifood technologies to understand stakeholders views of what sustainability means, and how these various technologies can contribute to more sustainable food/ag systems in the future.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? To achieve Objectives 1 & 2, we i) analyzed and published the responses of a stakeholder survey on parameters deemed important to use in future assessments of novel agrifood technologies (N=77 valid participant responses; results published in Wei et al. 2023), ii) developed 4 separate stakeholder surveys to investigate stakeholder views of benefits/risks of genetic engineering and nanotechnology in food/agriculture (including sciencetechnology beliefs, views of 6 case studies,views/attitudes across all case studies, and exit survey for engagement study);iii) developed 6 case studies using genetic engineering and nanotech in food/ag (each case study consisting of 1-page overviews of the case, how genetic engineering or nanotech is used, and key benefits and risks), and iv) developed an online stakeholder engagement platform that will be used in the next steps to investigate stakeholder views of these novel agrifood technologies, their benefits and risks, and strategies to ensure their sustainable futures (that includes 5 separate steps or activities for participants to follow). The online stakeholder engagement platform study is scheduled to occur in June 2024. To achieve Objective 3, we led and/or participated in a number of workshops and seminars to better educate and train different stakeholders and researchers on ways to better evaluate societal implications of novel agrifood technologies. For instance, weled a session on the role of nanotechnology to achieve sustainable food/agriculture systems at a stakeholder workshop hosted by the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiativein Washington DC (Nov. 2023), as well as led a stakeholder roundtable discussion at the Society for Risk Analysis annual meeting held in Washington DC (Dec. 2023). During both of these events, we engaged stakeholders across different sectors (government, academia, industry, etc.) to think through concepts of sustainabiity, responsible innovation, and engagement for novel agrifood technology development. We also participated in a stakeholder - industry workshop on gene-edited microbial products for agriculture use hosted by the Center of Excellent for Regulatory Science in Agriculture (CERSA) at NC State (June 2023).We also participated in public outreach events (with high school students from Indonesia, April 2023). We are also developing and hostingan in-person multi-stakeholder workshop to investigate stakeholder perceptions of novel agrifood technologies in terms of their sustainability, planned for May 2024. To achieve Objective 4, we have produced 3 peer-reviewed publications that are directly arising from this grant, with an additional publication that received partial funding support from this grant. In addition, we developed a blog post and an Extension publication that was a direct result of working on this grant. In addition, our team also published 9 other peer-reviewed publications (journal articles, book chapter, report) that related to this grant but was funded elsewhere.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kuzma, J., Pioneers of Genomic Biology Invited Lecture Series. Macrodynamics of The Macro-Dynamics of the History of U.S. Oversight for Biotechnology in Agriculture and the Environment: What have we learned Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. University of Illinois. February 22, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Grieger, K. 2023. Engineering Sustainable Solutions through Responsible Innovation and Engagement. Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. Seminar presentation.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2024 Citation: Lowry, G., Giraldo, J.P., Steinmetz, N., Avellan, A., Demirer, G., Ristroph, K., Wang, G., Hendren, C., Alabi, C., Caparco, A., Da Silva, W., Gonzalez, I., Grieger, K., Jeon, S.J., Khodakovskaya, M., Kohay, H., Kumar, V., Muthuramalingam, R., Poffenbarger, H., Tilton, R., White, J. Opportunities and Challenges to Realizing Nano-enabled Precision Delivery in Plants. Nature Nanotechnology In review
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Grieger, K., Kuzma, J. 2023. Ensuring Sustainable Novel Plant Biotechnologies Requires Formalized Research and Assessment Programs. ACS Agricultural Science & Technology, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsagscitech.3c00380
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kuzma, J., Grieger, K., Cummings, C.L. Cimadori, I., Loschin, N., Wei, W. 2023. Parameters, Practices, and Preferences for Regulatory Review of Emerging Biotechnology Products in Food and Agriculture. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 11, 1256388, https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2023.1256388
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Wei, W., Grieger, K., Cummings, C.L. Loschin, N., Kuzma, J. 2023. Identifying Sustainability Assessment Parameters of Genetically Engineered Agrifoods. Plants, People, Planet, 6: 29-43, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10411
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Medina R. and J. Kuzma. (2023) Engineered and Natural Gene Drives: Mechanistically the Same, Yet not Same in Kind. Nature Communications 14: 5994. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41727-3.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kuzma and Williams. 2023. Chapter 8: Public Inclusion and Responsiveness in Governance of Genetically Engineered Animals. IN: Democratizing Risk Governance: Bridging Science, Expertise, Deliberation and Public Values, Palgrave MacMillan, M. Gattinger (Ed), pp 191-216.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Furgurson, J., Loschin, N., Butoto, E., Abugu, M., Gillespie, C. J., Brown, R., Ferraro, G., Speicher, N., Stokes, R., Budnick, A., Geist, K., Alirigia, R., Andrews, A., & Mainello, A. (2023). Seizing the policy moment in crop biotech regulation: An interdisciplinary response to the Executive Order on biotechnology. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 11. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2023.1241537
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Trump, B. D., Cummings, C. L., Loschin, N., Keisler, J. M., Wells, E. M., & Linkov, I. (2023). The worsening divergence of biotechnology: The importance of risk culture. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 11, 1250298. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2023.1250298
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Cummings, Selfa, Lindberg, Bain. 2023. Identifying public trust building priorities of gene editing in agriculture and food. Agriculture and Human Values, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-023-10465-z
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2024 Citation: Kendig C, Selfa T, Thompson P, Anthony R, Bauchspies W, Blue G, Curry H, Das A, Harrison R, Henke C, Jin S, Kuzma J, Lipschitz F, Richter K, Ruelle M, Silberg T, Takahashi B. (2024). The need for more inclusive deliberation on ethics and governance in food biotechnology. Journal of Responsible Innovation https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2024.2304383 (in press)
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kuzma. 2023. Social Concerns and Regulation of Cisgenic Crops in North America. IN: Cisgenic Crops: Safety, Legal and Social Issues, Springer, C. Kole (Ed), pp. 179-194.
  • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Grieger, K. Loschin, N., Cimadori, I. 2024. Interdisciplinary Reflections on the U.S. Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy. Blog prepared for Genetic Engineering and Society Center, December 2023.https://research.ncsu.edu/ges/2024/01/blog-reflections-biotech-eo/
  • Type: Other Status: Under Review Year Published: 2024 Citation: Grieger, K., Gould, F. 2024. Lets Talk about Genetic Engineering: A Guide to Understanding Genetic Engineering and Its Applications in Food, Agriculture, and the Environment. NC State Extension publication  In review.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Framing Challenges and Opportunities for Canada: Expert Panel on Regulating Gene-Edited Organisms for Pest Control. CCA (Council of Canadian Academies) (2023). (Kuzma coauthor and panel member). Retrieved November 2023, from https://cca-reports.ca/reports/gene-edited-organisms-for-pest-control/
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2024 Citation: Grieger, K., Wiener, J. Kuzma, J. 2024. Improving Risk Governance Strategies via Two-way Learning: A Comparative Analysis of Solar Geoengineering and Gene Drives. Environment Systems and Decisions  In review.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Grieger, K. 2023. Ensuring Sustainability of Nanotechnology in Agriculture through Practices of Responsible Innovation. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), Dublin, Ireland, May 2023 - Oral presentation
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Cimadori, I. 2023. The Protection of Genetically-Selected Animals: A Focus on EU Law. Presentation at George Washington Conference on Animals and the Anthropocene: A Legal Scholarship Symposium, Washington DC>
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Grieger, K. 2023. U.S. Executive Order to Advance Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy. Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting, Washington DC - Oral presentation
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kuzma J. Societal and Governance Aspects of Resurrection Biology. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Board on Life Sciences Meeting. October 31, 2023. Washington DC


Progress 01/15/22 to 01/14/23

Outputs
Target Audience:During the first year of the project, the target audiences includedstakeholders interested or involved in developing, using, or managing new technologies in food and agriculture sectors, such as industry, government or regulatory bodies, academia, non-profits, or advocacy groups. Efforts to reach these target audiences included organizing or participating in training events, giving conference or seminar presentations, as well as being featured in a podcast and a recorded video on the future of emerging biotechnologies in food/agriculture. For example, the project teamorganized or participated in 5training events on topics ofconducting responsible research and innovation related to emerging nano and biotechnologies in food/ag (April 2022, NC State), best practices for engaging stakeholders in food/ag (October 2022, Greensboro NC via NC State Extension conference), engaging stakeholders in broader risk governance contexts (April 2022, with Society for Risk Analysis),conducting interdisciplinary research in teams (March 2022), and science in the public interest (March 2022). Our project team also participated in a NC State recorded video series, called the Long View, on the future of food (January 2023),and gave nine different conference or seminar presentations at the annual meeting for the Society for Risk Analysis (December 2022), Gordon Research Conference on nanotechnology in food/agriculture (June 2022), and governance of genetically engineered organisms (April 2022). All of these training and dissemination events have included individuals from various stakeholder groups, including industry, academia, government, and nonprofits interested in or involved in exploring emerging technologies in food and agriculture systems. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided training and professional development for several students, a postdoc, as well as to other faculty and professionals interested in/involved in novel technologies used in food/agriculture. For students, there are 2 PhD students directly involved in conducting the work carried out in Steps 1-2 including investigating two of the GE agrifood products (GM salmon, GE slick haired cattle). We also have a postdoc working on the grant, investigating the GE mustard green case study. An undergraduate student was assisting in the data collection efforts related to the 3 nano-agrifood case studies. In addition, 4 undergraduate students are involved conducting a bibliometric analysis of all 6 case studies in order to document the extent and rate of publication of the case studies over time. In addition, and as mentioned earlier, we have conducted a number of education and training opportunities for faculty and other professionals interested in sustainability of novel technologies in food/agriculture. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results obtained from this grant have been disseminated through conference presentations, workshops, seminars, as well as peer-reviewed publications. This includes the items mentioned under products and other products. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we plan to continue with Step 1 in terms of developing benefit/risk evaluations of the 6 case studies. These case studies will be used in additional stakeholder engagement activities related to Step 2, in which we plan to conduct an online/virtual stakeholder engagement activity to involve stakeholders to better understand their perceptions and views of the case studies. We also plan to use a multi-criteria decision analysis frameworks to investigate benefits/risks of the case studies with stakeholder-elicited criteria weights. In Step 3, we plan to conduct education and training events to support the sustainable development and use of genetic engineering and nanotechnology in food and agriculture.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We have made substantial progress towards accomplishing the project's goals and objectives during the first year. Related to Objective1 (assess societal implications and improve decision-making of GE- and nano-agrifood products), we have conducted several key steps. First, we conducted an initial horizon scan of GE and nano-agrifood products, identifying 28 different nano/GE agrifoods. After reviewing the full list of options, we identified 6 select case studies to target in risk/benefit evaluations and stakeholder engagement. These case studies include 3 GE agrifoods (geneticallymodified salmon, genetically engineered mustard greens, genetically engineered slick haired cattle) and 3 nano agrifoods (nano-P fertilizer, nano-encased vaccines for avian influenza (poultry), nano-celllose as a food coating). We developed case study descriptions of these agrifood products, producing a 1 page overview of each case that included information on how the case study is used, the role of GE or nanotechnology in the product, and an overview of key benefits/risks to environment, health, and society. The case studies were refined based on views of conducting a stakeholder survey, in association with Step 2. In addition, we conducted a literature review of several case studies to better understand potential benefits and risks, including GM salmon, GE mustard greens, GE slick haired cattle, nano-fertilizer (P), nano-encased vaccines for veterinary use, and nanocellulose food coatings. In addition, we also conducted a deep-dive investigation into environmental risk assessment processes for GE papaya as a comparitive study. Based on findings thus far, we have developed a paper that outlines different parameters to investigate sustainability aspects of genetically engineered crops/plants (Wei et al. -in preparation) and have another paper that is focusing on the ethical and legal aspects of genetically engineered animals (Cimadori et al. - in preparation). We have involved PhD students, a postdoc, as well as senior experts in this work. In Step 2, we conducted a stakeholder survey in order to identify parameters that would be important when evaluating GE and nano-agrifoods, based on benefits/risks to environment, health, and ethical/societal considerations. To conduct the survey, we identified more than 400 stakeholders that represented a range of industry, government, advocacy, NGO, and academic researchers interested in or involved in food/agriculture. We developed an online survey using Qualtrics, and developed survey questions to gauge respondents' perceptions on individual parameters that would be important when evaluating novel agrifood products. We had a total of 77 complete survey responses from stakeholders, identifying a total of 21 different parameters deemed important related to environment, human health, animal health, and ethical/legal/societal implications. Based on these results, we revised and refined our case study descriptions to be as comprehensive as possible and to reflect parameters deemed important by diverse stakeholders. For Step 3, we have conducted a number of education and training seminars and workshops related to sustainable development and use of new technologies in food and agriculture. For example, we conducted a virtual module on the role of responsible innovation in biotechnology development at NC State (April 2022), as well as training on best practices for engaging stakeholders in food/agriculture systems (May 2022, Oct. 2022) as well as within broader risk governance contexts (April 2022). We also presented on the role of public inclusion and engagement in governance and oversight of emerging technologies at the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Committee on Emerging Science, Technology, and Innovation in Washington DC (April 2022). For Step 4, we have produced two publications that are directly arising from this grant, and have also published three other publications that relate to this grant work but was funded elsewhere.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Cimadori, I., Grieger, K. Animal welfare as a key factor in risk assessment of GE animals raised for food production: a regulation analysis. Presentation at the Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting. Tampa, FL.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kuzma J. Governance of Genetically Engineered Organisms: Regulation to Societal Aspects, Technology, Transparency, and Consumer Acceptance of Genetically Engineered Yeast. Craft Brewers Conference, Mpls, MN, May 4, 2022. Kuzma J. Public Inclusion & Engagement in Emerging Technologies Governance Workshop on Creating a Framework for Emerging Science, Technology, and Innovation in Health and Medicine, National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Committee on Emerging Science, Technology, and Innovation (CESTI), Washington DC. April 14-15, 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Cimadori, I., Grieger, K. The Protection of Genetically-Selected Animals: A Focus on EU Law. In preparation
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization.2022. Coauthors, Caixia Gao, Enoch Kikulwe, Jennifer Kuzma, Martin Lema, Preetmoninder Lidder, Jonathan Robinson, Justus Wessler and Kevin Zhao Gene editing and agrifood systems. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc3579en
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Wei, W., Grieger, K., Cummings, C., Loschin, N., Kuzma, J. Sustainability Assessments of Genetically Engineered Agrifoods Requires Interdisciplinary, Holistic Approaches. Plants, People, Planet, Special Issue on Agricultural biotechnology - In preparation
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Loschin, N., Grieger, K. Evaluating Risks, Benefits, and Societal Implications of Novel Agrifood Technologies. Presentation at the Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting. Tampa, FL.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Wei, W., Grieger, K., Key Parameters to Consider in Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered and Gene Edited Agrifoods. Presentation at the Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting. Tampa, FL.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Grieger, K. Fostering Responsible Innovation of Nano-Agrifoods through Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Insights. Presentation at the Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting. Tampa, FL.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kuzma J. (2022). Implementing Responsible Research and Innovation: A Case Study of U.S. Biotechnology Oversight. Global Public Policy and Governance: 1-19. DOI: 10.1007/s43508-022-00046-x.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kuzma J. (2022). Governance of Gene-Edited Plants: Insights from the History of Biotechnology Oversight and Policy Process Theory. Science, Technology and Human Values 1-32 DOI: 10.1177/01622439221108225.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kuzma, J. (2023). Social Concerns and Regulation of Cisgenic Crops in North America. In: Chaurasia, A., Kole, C. (eds) Cisgenic Crops: Safety, Legal and Social Issues. Concepts and Strategies in Plant Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10721-4_8.