- Campuses :
- Twin Cities
- Crookston
- Duluth
- Morris
- Rochester
- Other Locations
Kuzma, J. Co-PI, NSF NIRT Award SES-0608791. NSF 200–-2010 $1,181,720
Susan Wolf (PI), Jennifer Kuzma, Jordan Paradise, Effie Kokkoli, Gurumurthy Ramachandran (co-PIs).
2009–2010 RAs: Daniel Lynch, Katie Wolf
Nanoscale science and technology occurs at the scale of approximately 1-100 nanometers, where structures, devices, and systems have novel functions and properties because of their size. Nanotechnology is related to a number of scientific fields including chemistry, biology, physics, optics, and mechanics and is seen by many as the “next industrial revolution”. Because many of these new nanomaterials would not fit under the current regulation framework, new regulation framework is required in order to address potential risks that nanomaterials could offer. This grant is currently working on its final recommendations for oversight mechanisms for nanomaterials. In order to develop oversight recommendations this grant has used past regulator systems, such as those put in place for genetically engineered organisms, in order to determine oversight mechanisms components that are necessary in an effective oversight regulatory system.
Kuzma, J. Co-PI, NSF NIRT Award SES-0709056. NSF 2007-2011 $1,399,258
David Berube, North Carolina State University (PI), Dietram Scheufele, U of WI, Kevin Elliott, Univ. of South Carolina, Patrick Gehrke University of South Carolina , and Jennifer Kuzma (co-PIs)
2009-2010 RA: Jonathan Brown
The Intuitive Toxicology and Public Engagement project is a multi-phase, cross-University project, consisting of various engagement exercises eliciting views from the public and experts about nanotechnology and select applications. Key themes for the project include risk perception in the public and experts, risk perception differences between the public and experts, and the public’s general attitudes toward nanotechnology in certain applications. For our stage of the project at the Humphrey School, we’re currently designing focus groups to be carried out in three cities, with participants to be members of the public with no formal nanotechnology expertise. The focus group topic will be nanotechnology in food and food processes. For each focus group the goal is to elicit public views toward nanotechnology in food and food processes, as well as for related issues such as nanotechnology product labeling.
Currently, I am helping to design the focus groups with Jennifer and the Office of Measurement Services (OMS). I’ve worked on multiple aspects of the focus groups thus far including designing a draft of the overall structure of the groups, the questions to be asked, potential surveys and worksheets for participants to fill out, and background information documents to be provided to participants. Once data have been obtained from all focus groups, I will assist in analyzing the audio file transcription of each focus group. Additionally, I’m analyzing survey results collected by collaborating researchers at an earlier stage of the overall project. Two surveys were created, one for the public and one for researchers, which dealt with general nanotechnology risk perceptions, and risk perceptions of other possible risk sources (such as smoking, nuclear weapons, etc.). Questions were both closed- and open-ended and varied slightly between the two versions, providing a rich dataset that should be both challenging and exciting to investigate.
Kuzma, J. Co-I, Minnesota Office of Education, MOE 2009-2010 $58,669
Leslie Flynn (PI), Lee Penn, Frank Joseph, John Nelson, Baskar Dahal, Brandy Toner, Jeffrey Long, Chun Wang, Wei Zhang, Sashank Varma, Keisha Varma, Andreas Stein, Christy Haynes, Jennifer Kuzma (co-Investigators)
Kuzma, J. co-PI, National Science Foundation NSF 2009-2013 $3,364,997
Daniel Voytas (PI), Jennifer Kuzma (co-PI)
2009-2010 RAs: Adam Kokotovich, Robert Yawson
Zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs)-mediated gene targeting is a novel technique for plant genetic modification and enables the introduction of precise gene sequence changes in vivo. In these methods, ZFNs are used to make double-strand breaks in DNA, and the cell’s own repair mechanisms are utilized to create specific gene modifications. Although in its early stages of development, many have praised ZFN technology as the next generation of genetic modification that will facilitate the introduction of new traits into organisms never before feasible to genetically modify.
In this four-year NSF funded project, we examine a set of the oversight and societal issues relating to the development and use of ZFN technology in plants. First, we examine the network of researchers and institutions surrounding ZFN technology. The ZFN research network is unique in that a private company holds the entire portfolio of intellectual property relating to the use ZFNs, while a consortium of academic scholars continues to conduct research on ZFNs, albeit in violation of the company’s intellectual property. Specifically we ask: how do the ZFN intellectual property issues speak to the challenges posed by biotechnology platform technologies? How does the ZFN research network highlight the dynamic boundary between academia and industry, public and private, and science and technology? To address these questions we use a variety of methods including document analysis, interviewing, and observation. Second, we ask: how should products resulting from ZFN technology be regulated? ZFNs can be used to genetically modify plants without inserting foreign DNA, and there are competing arguments concerning whether plants resulting from ZFN technologies should be regulated as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or as the products of conventional breeding. In addition to reviewing the relevant literature, we help address this question by conducting stakeholder workshops.
Humphrey School of Public Affairs | 130 Humphrey School, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55455