PEGASUS | Centre for Rural Economy | Newcastle University

Project Dates: 2011 - 2012
Project Leader: Lynn Frewer (WP 3)
Sponsors: EU FP 7
Partners: Project coordinated by Professor Lynn Frewer, University of Newcastle (Food and society Group CRE/AFRD UK), Agriculture Economic Research Institute (NEI, Netherlands), University of Parma (UNIPR, Italy), RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety (RIKLT, Netherlands).

The objective of PEGASUS was to identify the pros and cons for future policy regarding GM animals, together with the foods and pharmaceutical products derived from them. The aim of PEGASUS was:

To aid the EU’s policy assessment of the relevant research programmes and commercial application of these GM animals together with the foods and pharmaceutical products derived from them.
To identify ethical concerns regarding their introduction, and societal barriers to commercialisation.
To identify issues raised as part of the technology appraisal process.

These outcomes would contribute to and inform the EU’s current work to further development the Knowledge Based Bio Economy (KBBE) and contribute to obtainment of its strategic objectives.

The specific aims of the PEGASUS project were:

To identify current and future technical developments in the area of genetic modification applied to animals and the importance for the (future) competitiveness of the European animal production;
To identify consumer perceptions associated with genetic modification in animals (both aquatic and terrestrial species) and derived food products by integrating national and European data;

To provide insight into the economic dimensions of using genetically modified (GM) animals in the food production chain (feed industry, breeding industry, primary sector, processing industry);

To produce an overview of the risks and benefits associated with including GM animal products in the food chain, from the point of view of the life sciences;

To collate the documented ethical concerns raised by various stakeholder groups, academics and commentators;

To identify policy gaps and recommend the policy options to be considered;

To provide an integrated analysis of public concerns and preferences for the strategic development and application of genetic modification applied to animals, including the food derived from them;

To identify future European research needs regarding GM animals, specifically identifying areas within the agrifood sector.

The PEGASUS project was delivered through 8 interrelated work packages:

Public perception of transgenic animals and food
Foresight of genetic modification animal technology developments
Production chain context
Life science dimension
Ethical Issues: Analysis of stakeholders positions and ethical judgments
Policy implementation and development
Public engagement
Management

Professor Lynn Frewer (Food and Society Group, CRE/AFRD) was responsible for the overall coordination of the PEGASUS project and was leader of work package one ‘Public perception of transgenic animals and food’. Work package one focused on the creation of an inventory and data base of existing knowledge on the public perception of GM animals.

The overall objective of this work package was to integrate national and European data on consumer perceptions associated with genetic modification of animals (both aquatic and terrestrial species) and food derived from them, in order to:

provide greater insight into public perceptions of GM animals
identify emerging issues that need to be addressed in further studies.