Special Issue on: "Impacts of Agricultural Biotechnology: Long-Term Evidence"

Guest Editor:
Calestous Juma, Harvard Kennedy School, USA

Since its first commercial release in the United States in 1996, agricultural biotechnology is now officially approved for use 29 countries worldwide. Nearly 17 million farmers grow genetically modified (GM) crops on over 160 million. At the time of the first release of GM crops there were widespread concerns over their potential long-term economic, ecological and health impacts. These concerns inspired diplomatic efforts to find ways to minimize potential economic, ecological and health impacts. The most elaborate of such efforts is the Cartagena Protocol of Biosafety negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

The aim of this special issue is to provide the latest evidence of the ecological and health impacts of GM crops. The special issue will focus on providing long-term trends based on assessments of studies on environment and health impacts of agricultural biotechnology. It will also welcome case studies of such impacts providing the best available evidence.

Since the first commercial release of GM crops there have been a number of major controversies that captured international media attention. However, their resolution hardly received attention. This special issue will also include papers on those controversies with particular emphasis on their policy lessons.

Subject Coverage

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

History of adoption of agricultural biotechnology
Evolution of regulations in agricultural biotechnology
Trends international treaties governing agriculture biotechnology
Negative environmental impacts of agricultural biotechnology
Positive environmental impacts of agricultural biotechnology
Negative health impacts of agricultural biotechnology
Positive health impacts of agricultural biotechnology
Negative economic impacts of agricultural biotechnology
Positive economic impacts of biotechnology
Emerging trends in national regulation of agricultural biotechnology
Emerging trends in international trade in agricultural biotechnology
Political economy of agricultural biotechnology
Public perceptions in agricultural biotechnology
Public controversies on ecological impacts of agricultural biotechnology
Public controversies on health impacts of agricultural biotechnology
Public controversies on economic impacts of agricultural biotechnology

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper was not originally copyrighted and if it has been completely re-written).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on the Author Guidelines page.