Attitudes toward biotechnology in the European Union

Attitudes to biotechnology: Estimating the opinions of a better-informed public

“…Being well-informed did, however, have less effect on public appraisals of risk, suggesting that risks are perceived but tolerated by more knowledgeable citizens. A similar pattern was found in the 1996 survey, where public knowledge and awareness of biotechnology was unrelated to the perceived risks of biotechnology but showed a moderate, positive correlation (0.25) with an index of perceived benefits (Pardo et al 2002).…”

“…A majority of Europeans encourage and accept biotechnology applications that have clear medical benefits for the diagnosis and treatment of human disease, including the cloning of human cells and tissues and genetic testing for inherited disease (Gaskell et al 2003a;Pardo, Midden and Miller, 2002;Hampel et al 2000). If, however, these same technologies are applied in different contexts -genetic tests to decide whether to continue a pregnancy, cloning to create a new human beingsurvey evidence reveals public opinion to be markedly oppositional (Human Genetics Commission, 2001;MORI, 2003a).…”

“…Public disquiet is also evident for biotechnology applications that involve the genetic modification of animals or the transfer of genes between animal species (Hampel et al 2000). Whilst a majority of Europeans in the 1996 Eurobarometer agreed that such applications might be useful, there were strong reservations about the risks and moral acceptability of such research (Pardo et al 2002).…”

“…And, furthermore, as a mean score we also know that a large proportion of the population scored considerably lower than this. Combining biological knowledge scores with information about public awareness of biotechnology, Pardo et al (2002) find that only one in five Europeans could be judged well-informed about biotechnology in 1996-7, with 45 percent of respondents both unaware of, and poorly informed about, basic biotechnology concepts. In 2002, only around one-quarter of UK citizens could be classified as an "engaged public", using an index of engagement based on awareness, biology knowledge and intended behaviour, a figure which showed little variation across the EU (Gaskell et al 2003a).…”

High school and university students' knowledge and attitudes regarding biotechnology

“…More positive attitudes toward biotechnology found among university students support current notion that better educated peoples have more favorable attitudes toward modern biotechnology [1]. Significant correlation between knowledge and attitudes supports an idea that public awareness is positively linked with greater appreciation of genetically engineered products [1,19].…”