ABSTRACT
Danish technology assessment has to include the wisdom, experience and visions of the citizens, the insight and tools of the experts, the needs and working conditions of the decision makers, and finally the democratic traditions in Denmark. This chapter explores five biotechnology-related consensus conferences in Denmark: gene technology in industry and agriculture, mapping the human genome, technological animals, childlessness, and gene therapy. One conference in 1987 was about gene technology in industry and agriculture; the Parliament decided afterwards not to fund animal gene technology in a research programme. At the gene therapy conference in September 1995, the lay panel was told by the experts that medical treatments cannot be covered by patents, referring to Danish patenting practice. Irradiation of fruits in 1989: the Parliament decided on a policy against irradiation of foods, except for dry spices, and Denmark has stuck to that policy since then.
