Ifgene arose in the Netherlands from a working-group of scientists, doctors and ethicists concerned about genetic engineering which began meeting at the Louis Bolk Instituut in the Netherlands in 1989. It went international in 1995 and acquired its current name Ifgene (International Forum for Genetic Engineering) the same year when it was adopted as an initiative of the Naturwissenschaftliche Sektion der freien Hochschule für Geisteswissenschaft (Science Section of the Free University of Spiritual Science), at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland.
The work of the Freien Hochschule für Geisteswissenschaft is furthered by the General Anthroposophical Society which has its headquarters at the Goetheanum. The General Anthroposophical Society has offices in 46 countries, for instance The Anthroposophical Society in America.