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In response to calls for public engagement on human genome editing (HGE), which intensified after the 2018 He Jiankui scandal that resulted in the implantation of genetically modified embryos, we detail an anticipatory approach to the governance of HGE. By soliciting multidisciplinary experts' input on the drivers and uncertainties of HGE development, we developed a set of plausible future scenarios to ascertain publics values—specifically, their hopes and concerns regarding the novel technology and its applications. In turn, we gathered a subset of multidisciplinary experts to propose governance recommendations for HGE that incorporate identified publics' values. These recommendations include: (1) continued participatory public engagement; (2) international harmonization and transparency of multiple governance levers such as professional and scientific societies, funders, and regulators; and (3) development of a formal whistleblower framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[N]anotechnology is best thought of as a socio-political project that has arisen as a result of influences both from within science and from the wider political, economic, and cultural climate. [...]

Consensus conferences, also known as citizens' panels - a collection of lay citizens akin to a jury but charged with deliberating on policy issues with a high technical content - are a potentially important way to conduct technology assessments, inform policy makers about public views of new technologies, and improve public understanding of and participation in technological decision making. The first citizens' panel in the United States occurred in April 1997 on the issue of 'Telecommunications and the Future of Democracy.' This article evaluates the impact of this citizens' panel. The standard criteria to evaluate the impact of analyses focus on the 'actual impact' and on the 'impact of general thinking.' To these standard criteria, this article introduces the evaluation of two impacts related to learning; impact on the training of knowledgeable personnel and the interaction with lay knowledge. The impact evaluation is based on a nearly comprehensive set of semistructured telephone interviews with the participants in the panel.