Introduction

This study contributes to the literature on narratives about China by analysing the British media coverage of Chinese synthetic biology research, a topic which has not yet received sustained scholarly attention. Synthetic biology is a cutting-edge field of science focused on redesigning living organisms to endow them with new characteristics that can then be used to develop novel medical treatments and chemicals or used in agriculture (Jefferson et al, 2014). As China is becoming one of the world leaders in synthetic biology, this chapter explores how Chinese advances in this field are narrated in the UK by analysing the coverage in agenda-setting news outlets that shape public discussions about science and technology.

The ‘rise of China’ has generated extensive debate, especially in the US, but increasingly also in Europe. As this volume demonstrates, these developments have generated a variety of narratives about China. This is not surprising given the centrality of narratives to the way humans make sense of the world and even of themselves (Ricoeur, 1984). Narratives help people interpret the meaning of events and to share these interpretations with others. They are stories or forms of meaning-making in communication (see Breslin, Chapter 1, this volume), which can also be related to more abstract framings. Frames can be described as the ‘central organizing idea […] that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events’ (Gamson and Modigliani, 1987: 143), and they are often formulated to serve strategic purposes or political agendas (see also Seiwert, Chapter 9, this volume). By contrast, narratives refer to more specific stories exemplifying these frames and involving particular actors, plots and implications, thereby making abstract ideas more relevant to readers (Crow and Lawlor, 2016).