ABSTRACT
Regulation policy has largely been left to political science and economics. This chapter discusses the theories of the researchers with reference to the current debate about deliberate release. It analyses the major theories of regulation and the factors each theory regards as most salient. The theories of the state and the state's role in capitalist society have become an increasingly important topic in sociology. The debate concerning the deliberate release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment is a continuation of an earlier debate regarding the safety of genetic engineering and some of the protagonists remain the same. The stated role of Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee guidelines was to ensure that any potentially dangerous genetically engineered organisms did not escape into the environment. The deliberate release of genetically modified organisms into the environment for any purpose was a very different problem and required different regulators.
