In October 2006, the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology (PIFB) and Michigan State University (MSU) invited representatives from different stakeholder groups to consider the options available for continuing discussions regarding the moral and ethical aspects and the future of genetically engineering and cloning food animals. Some of the key points that emerged from the workshop include:

• The observation that ethics discussions should take place in numerous institutions by a wide variety of people and should engender public trust and confidence.
• Factors such as the scope of ethics discussion, the product, and the amount of transparency involved that will affect the credibility and legitimacy of the discussions and any conclusions that might arise from them.

Institutional options considered by participants included:

• The establishment of a national accreditation body that would oversee Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees; and
• The creation of a quasi-autonomous nongovernmental organization (QUANGO) funded by government and other organizations, which would serve as a source of information and recommendations and a mediator on controversial issues.

An overview of the conference agenda and with link to the full workshop report, entitled “Options for Future Discussions on Genetically Modified and Cloned Animals”, can be viewed at: http://pewagbiotech.org/events/1019/. For more information contact Kara Flynn at kflynn@pewagbiotech.org..