Attitudes towards genetic engineering

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

“…What empirical evidence is there, though, of a causal link between knowledge levels and expressed preferences toward modern genetic science? Hampel et al (2000) find that Germans who rate their own knowledge levels as "good" are more likely to be proponents of genetic engineering than those with less self-perceived knowledge.…”

“…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).…”

“…Those familiar with survey based investigations of public awareness of politics (Delli Carpini and Keeter 1996;Bennett 1988) and science in general (Durant, Evans and Thomas 1992;Miller, 1998) will not be surprised to learn that European publics score poorly on factual knowledge batteries on genetic science. Certainly, members of the public seem to regard themselves as ill-informed; only 2 percent of respondents in the 1997 German Biotech survey rated their knowledge of genetic engineering as "very good", with a majority conceding they knew nothing about it at all (Hampel et al 2000). And, although based on a selfselecting sample, the recent GM Nation?…”

“…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).…”

“…In Germany, over half of the surveyed public rejected the use of genetic engineering to improve the flavour or appearance of their food (Hampel et al 2000). And, although time series data suggests that the British public have become increasingly ambivalent about GM applications in recent years (MORI, 2003b;Gaskell et al 2003b), a majority still rated GM crops and foods as risky and of limited usefulness in the 2002 Eurobarometer (Gaskell et al 2003a), How far can these public appraisals of biotechnology and its applications be seen as judgements based on understanding or ignorance of the underlying science?…”