Twenty-first Century Governance Challenges in the Life Sciences

The chapter explores the rapid advancement of biotechnology over the past few decades, outlining an array of factors that drive innovation and, at the same time, raise concerns about the extent to which the scope and pace of novel life science developments can be adequately governed. From ‘dual-use life science research of concern’ through the rise of amateur biology to the advent of personalised medicine, the chapter exposes the limitations of the existing governance mechanisms in accommodating the multifaceted ethical, social, security, and legal concerns arising from cutting-edge scientific and technological developments.