The Gentechnologiebericht (‘Gene Technology Report’) is a monitoring project that examines current developments in genetic engineering in Germany.

Is gene technology a great opportunity for better medicine, higher-yield crops and economic growth? Or is it an incalculable risk for our health, environment and social cohesion? Gene technology has rekindled the old debate on whether progress is a blessing or a curse more fiercely than any other technology in recent years. The reason for this is obvious: gene technology affects widely different areas of life; it permits direct interventions into the genetic makeup – both of the natural world and of ourselves.

Against this background, the Interdisciplinary Research Group Gentechnologiebericht of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities aims to provide the necessary groundwork for an unprejudiced and open-minded debate about gene technology in Germany.

The research group is made up of well-known scientists and scholars in the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences and consists in an impartial, long-term observation group that can carefully consider the very different applications of gene technology, therapy and diagnostics and maintain an overview of their development. In addition to the current state of technical progress, consideration is also given to the varied areas in which procedures in gene technology are applied. Economic, environmental and scientific aspects of specific fields of application are studied, as are ethical, political and social points of view.