nanotechnology research in the us agri-food sectoral system of innovation

250 Pages·2013·2.84 MB·English

NANOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH IN THE US AGRI-FOOD SECTORAL
SYSTEM OF INNOVATION: TOWARD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

A Dissertation
Presented to
The Academic Faculty

By

Rodrigo Cortes-Lobos

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in the
School of Public Policy

Georgia Institute of Technology

May 2013
NANOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH IN THE US AGRI-FOOD SECTORAL
SYSTEM OF INNOVATION: TOWARD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Approved by:

Dr. Susan E. Cozzens, Advisor Dr. Richard Barke
School of Public Policy School of Public Policy
Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Juan Rogers Dr. Wenda K. Bauchspies
School of Public Policy School of History
Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Jennifer Kuzma
School of Public Affairs
University of Minnesota

Date Approved: January 7, 2013
To my wife Beatriz, Martina and Emiliano
For their infinite patient and love
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS1

I want to thank all the people that shared in this important moment and helped
me achieve this goal in my academic life. First, I’d like to thank my wife Beatriz who
always was my close collaborator and confident partner in this journey. We both learned
how to successfully navigate this turbulent ocean of new emotions, worries, expectation,
and happy moments during these years. To my daughter Martina and son Emiliano, who
were both taken from the comfort life in Chile to initiate a journey that required them an
accelerated process of learning and adaptation to new realities, people and language,
without your constant love and happiness this voyage could never get to harbor.
To my parent, Juan Cortes Monterrichard, and Sonia Lobos Puelles, I would
like to thank you for always supporting me in each step of my life.
I want to express my gratitude to my advisor Dr. Susan Cozzens, who has been
very important, not only in the finalization of this dissertation, but also in giving me
support and constant advice to help my academic career. I am also very grateful to my
dissertation committee that helped me to shape the ideas and concepts that I finally wrote
in this work.
I want to thank my friends and colleagues from the TPAC research group,
especially Diran Soumonnni and Thomas Woodson with whom I shared many research
hours and had many good conversations. To my friends in School of Public Policy, and to
all of those people that in one way or another help me to transit this journey in a more

1 This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No.
0531194under Cooperative Agreement of the Center for Nanotechnology and Society at Arizona State
University Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are
those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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comfortable way, thank you. To Mercedes Martinez, my friend who spent a lot of time
making revision of my dissertation, I appreciate all that you did.
Last, but not least, I want to acknowledge the Universidad de Talca, the Fulbright
Commission, and the Chilean Ministry of Education for financially supporting my PhD.
studies in the United State of America. I would like to thank to the Center for
Nanotechnology in Society in Arizona State University and the colleagues at TRC1
research group for supporting my dissertation research.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………..……..iv
LIST OF TABLE……………………………………………………………………..…..ix

LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………..…...x

SUMMARY………………………………………………………………………….......xii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. ...................................................................................... 1
1.1 Research Background and Motivation .......................................................................... 2
1.2 Nanoscience and Nanotechnology ................................................................................ 5
1.3 Nanotechnology in the U.S. Agrifood Sector ............................................................... 6
1.4 Risk Governance in Agrifood Nanotechnology ............................................................ 8
1.5 Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................................................... 9
1.6 Research Question and Methodology ...................................................................... 12
1.7 Significance and Contribution .................................................................................... 16
1.8 Structure of the Dissertation ....................................................................................... 18

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. ......................................................................... 19
2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 19
2.2 Sectoral System of Innovation .................................................................................... 20
2.3 Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) ...................................................................... 25
2.4 The US agrifood System and its Institutional Framework.......................................... 31
2.5 Sustainable Development............................................................................................ 38
2.6 Nanotechnology Governance ...................................................................................... 46
2.7 Nanotechnology and Risk ........................................................................................... 48
2.8 Agrifood Nanotechnology .......................................................................................... 50
2.9 Theoretical Background .............................................................................................. 55
2.10 Research Questions ................................................................................................... 60
2.11 Description of Variables ........................................................................................... 61

CHAPTER 3: DELIMTING THE AGRIFOOD NANOTECHNOLOGY SECTOR,
RESEARCH DATA AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 64
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 64
3.2 The US agrifood nanotechnology sector..................................................................... 65
3.2.1 Policy Context of the national nanotechnology research agenda in the US ............ 65
3.2.2. Policy Context of the Nanotechnology Research Agenda in the US agrifood Sector
................................................................................................................................. 66
3.3 Data ............................................................................................................................. 72
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3.4 Research Design.......................................................................................................... 81
3.5 Techniques of Analysis ............................................................................................... 82
3.6 Advantages and Limitations of the Data and Methodology ....................................... 86

CHAPTER 4:THE US AGRIFOOD NANOTECHNOLOGY: KNOWLEDGE AND
TECHNOLOGIES. ........................................................................................................... 88
4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 88
4.2 The US Agrifood Nanotechnology Research Sector .................................................. 89
4.2.1 Actors and Research Collaboration ......................................................................... 92
4.2.2 Bibliometric Analysis of the US Agrifood Sector ................................................... 96
4.3 The US Agrifood Nanotechnology by Research Area .............................................. 102
4.3.1 Biosensors: ............................................................................................................. 105
4.3.2 Environmental Processing ..................................................................................... 109
4.3.3 Sustainable Agriculture .......................................................................................... 111
4.3.4 Pathogen Detection ................................................................................................ 112
4.3.5 Plant Production and Nanobiotechnology ............................................................. 115
4.3.6 Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production ........................................................ 117
4.3.7 Nano-bioindustrial Products .................................................................................. 119
4.4 US Agrifood Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Research ........................... 122
4.5 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 126

CHAPTER 5:ACTORS AND NETWORKS – THE INFLUENCE OF ADVOCACY
COALITION GROUPS. ................................................................................................. 128
5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 128
5.2 Evidence of Advocacy Coalitions in the US Nanotechnology Agrifood Sector. ..... 131
5.3 “Pro-nano” Advocacy Coalition A ........................................................................... 134
5.3.1 Beliefs of Advocacy group Pro-nano ..................................................................... 134
5.3.2 Advocacy Pro-EHS Research Subgroup ................................................................ 138
5.3.3 Bio-base nanoparticles Advocacy Subgroup ......................................................... 142
5.4 Resources Pro-nano Advocacy Group ...................................................................... 144
5.5 Relationships among Pro-nano coalition’s members ................................................ 145
5.6 “Pro Nano-Regulation” Advocacy Coalition B ........................................................ 149
5.6.1 Beliefs of Advocacy group Pro nano-regulations .................................................. 151
5.6.2 Resources Pro Nano-regulation Advocacy Group ................................................. 162
5.6.3 Relationships among Pro Nano-Regulation coalition’s members ......................... 165
5.7 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 167

CHAPTER 6:US AGRIFOOD NANOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AGENDA AND
ITS INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................ 171
6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 171
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Advocacy groups Participation in the US Nanotechnology Research Agenda .............. 173
6.2 Advocacy groups Participation in the US Nanotechnology Research Agenda…….173
6.3 Pro-nano Coalition Participation in Influencing the US Nanotechnology Policy
Subsystem .............................................................................................................. 174
6.4 The Nano-debate on Risks versus Benefits .............................................................. 178
6.5 The Battle for Regulating Nanotechnology .............................................................. 187
6.6 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 192

CHAPTER 7:CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS. ............................... 195
7.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 195
7.2 General Observations and Findings .......................................................................... 196
7.3 Theory Implications .................................................................................................. 204
7.4 Policy Implications ................................................................................................... 208
7.5 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 211

APPENDIX A:Case Study Protocol. .............................................................................. 212
I Theoretical Frame ......................................................................................................... 212
II Data Gathering Plan .................................................................................................... 214
III Data Analysis Plan and Reporting ............................................................................. 220

APPENDIX B:KEYWORD STRATEGY SEARCH. ................................................ 221

Crop-specific search terms for the agri-food analysis .................................................... 221

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 228

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Four Dimension Sustainability Goals ................................................................. 42
Table 2: Recommended USDA Budget Nanotechnology Agrifood Program 2003. ........ 68
Table 3: Interviews Nanotechnology Agrifood Sector in the US ..................................... 79
Table 4: Official Documentation Related to Nanotechnology ......................................... 80
Table 5: Pro-nano advocacy group Line of Argumentation ........................................... 133
Table 6: IFT’s Food Nanoscience Working Group Strategy Plan .................................. 135
Table 7: Arguments Coalition A to Support Their Research Area. ................................ 137
Table 8: Arguments Subgroup Pro-EHS Research ......................................................... 140
Table 9: Beliefs Subgroup Bio-base Nanoparticles ........................................................ 143
Table 10: Advocacy Pro-nano Coalition’s Available Resources .................................... 144
Table 11: Advocacy Pro Nano-regulation Coalition’s Available Resources .................. 164
Table 12: Advocacy Group Members’ Participation on the US Nanotechnology
Regulation Framework in 2006 ........................................................................ 182

Table 13: Advocacy Group Members’ Participation on the US Nanotechnology
Regulation Framework Period 2007-2012 ........................................................ 185

Table 14: Public Comments on FDA’s Draft Guidance ................................................. 189

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Diagram of the Advocacy Coalition Framework .............................................. 28
Figure 2: The three Pillars of Sustainability (Brundtland 1987) ....................................... 41
Figure 3: Conceptual Framework to Study the Use of Nanotechnology in the US
Agrifood Research Agenda ............................................................................................... 58

Figure 4: USDA Annual Budget for Nanotechnology Research Period 2001-2010 ........ 71
Figure 5: Number Publications CNS-ASU Nanotechnology Bibliometric Dataset Period
2000-2010 ......................................................................................................................... 74

Figure 6: Geographical Distribution of Intervieews ......................................................... 79
Figure 7: US and World Trend in Agrifood Nanotechnology Publications Period 2000-
2010................................................................................................................................... 90

Figure 8: Trend in Agrifood Nanotechnology Publication by Country Period 2000-2010
........................................................................................................................................... 91

Figure 9: Rate of growth of Agrifood nanotechnology Publications in relation to Total
US nano Publications Period 2000-2010………………………………………………..92

Figure 10: Cross correlation map of US Research Organizations Period 2000-2010 ...... 95

Figure 11: Main Concepts results of the US Agrifood Nanotechnology sector Period
2000-2010. ........................................................................................................................ 97

Figure 12: Keywords results of the US Agrifood Nanotechnology Sector in Period 2000-
2010................................................................................................................................... 99

Figure 13: Four Dimension Sustainability Goals with relation to Nanotechnology
Research in Soil .............................................................................................................. 100

Figure 14: Four Dimension Sustainability Goals with relation to Nanotechnology
Research in Pesticide and Insecticide ............................................................................. 102

Figure 15: US Agrifood Nanotechnology Research Topics Development in the Period
2000-2010……………………………………………………………………………... 104

Figure 16: Trend in Nanotechnology Sustainability Research in US Agrifood Sector
2000-2010 ....................................................................................................................... 105

x