Change in the policy community of human genetics: A pragmatic approach to open governance

The 1999 Review of biotechnology regulation required the policy community of human genetics to introduce a new and open approach to governance. In implementing this policy of self-reform, the policy community is obliged to reconcile conflicting political demands from the policy networks of civil society, science and industry as it seeks to establish and maintain the legitimacy of the new regulatory apparatus. Drawing on documentary and interview evidence, this article explores how policy community change may be limited and structured by its existing culture and policy networks in ways not predicted by existing theory.