Relational risk perceptions: How different stakeholders perceive the future of gene drive technologies

• In Event: Science, Knowledge, and Technology Open Call Paper Session (Co-Sponsored by Global and Transnational Sociology Section)

Abstract

This paper examines contestations that arise with emergent technologies. How and why do perceptions of risk in emergent technologies vary? In what ways do different actors draw on past and present experiences to make sense of future potential and risks? I use the case of “gene drives” to explore risk perceptions of an emergent technology. Through in-depth interviews, I examine how different experts—gene drive scientists, conservationists, and public health professionals—perceive the risks of gene drives (N=49). While they come from different professional backgrounds, each group has a stake in gene drive technology, whether in its development or potential applications. Respondents all saw the promise of gene drives, but they varied in their perceptions of risk. I argue that how actors anchor on certain frames shape how they assess the uncertainty of new technologies. When viewed through a lens of linear progress, uncertainty was framed as a routine feature of scientific work—something that, through experimentation, ultimately leads to knowledge, which steadily advances for both individual researchers and the field as a whole, thus minimizing risk. In contrast, through a lens of surprise, unintended consequences became problematic rather than productive, scientific progress moves both forward and backward, and nature was unpredictable, making genetic control difficult. Risks then appeared more significant and less containable. Understanding these processes are important. Risk perceptions not only shape the trajectory of technological development, but the anchors underlying them also reveal potential biases in judgment—biases that may contribute to future accidents or constrain the realization of beneficial technologies.

Author

• Amy Zhou, Barnard College