Survey shows public concern over biology

URL: http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v410/n6825/full/410138a0_fs.html

Date accessed: 15 March 2001

Nature 410, 138 - 139 (2001) © Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

08 March 2001

[LONDON] A survey by the government-funded Human Genetics Commission has revealed that 70% of the UK population has "little or no confidence" that regulations can keep track with and control new research in biology. The survey also found widespread concern over the use of genetic information by insurance companies and its retention by the police.

As with previous surveys, the poll showed a tension between the perceived benefits of medical science and ideas of what was natural. Of those surveyed, 90% believed that genetic developments should be used to diagnose and provide cures for disease, but roughly a third thought that human genetic research is "tampering with nature, and is unethical".

Category: 4. Ethical and Social Concerns Arising out of Biotechnology, 32. Genome Project and Genetics