Interpreted as a dialectical process the biotech controversy is seen to be developing incrementally in directions that none of its participants can necessarily be said to have intended. The 'final' shape and content of the regulatory settlement is likely to be the outcome of an explicit or implicit social compromise and cannot yet be predicted. This paper suggests that the regulatory regime already in place in India is only an initial attempt to impose a narrow, elite framing of the issues reflecting the interests of powerful economic forces.
