Biotech Updates

Estonia’s Genome Study Analyzed

October 10, 2008

Developing countries like Estonia with low administrative and policy implementation capacity should be cautious regarding public-private partnerships in high-tech research and development. “Conflicts of interests and loss of accountability seem likely” particularly in biotechnology because of the “high scientific and business uncertainty characteristic of the field.” This is the conclusion of a paper “The Rise and Fall of the Estonian Genome Project” by Rainer Kattel and Margit Suurna of the Tallinn University of Technology.

The paper, published in the online journal “Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology” is a case study of the Estonian Genome Project (EGP) during its initial phase from 2001 to 2007. It discusses what went wrong with the project and the main policy lessons learned.

An abstract of the paper for nonsubscribers is available at http://www.bepress.com/selt/vol2/iss2/art4/