“Why Are People Hostile To Biotechnologies?” by Massimiano Bucchi and Federico Neresini, is published in Science (vol. 304, 18 june 2004).
Why Hostile to Biotech? What determines the public’s attitudes toward biotechnology? The paper suggests that hostility toward biotechnology represents, in large part, the public’s concern for the procedures concerning scientific expertise, decision making and political representation. Using responses from the third of a series of studies on Italian citizens’ attitudes to biotechnologies – partly supported by Observa Cultural Association together with Fondazione Bassetti – and drawing on past studies suggesting that something more than media coverage and scientific awareness are at play, researchers addressed the question of what shapes public opinion of biotechnology. The authors hypothesize that the public does not fear biotechnologies so much as the interaction between science, politics and business.
To read the article, click here.
Further information:
Biotechnologies and the Governance of Innovation – main survey results (in zip format).
To download the full survey report in Italian click here
Second Survey on Biotechnologies and Public Opinion in Italy: Download a Synopsis of Results (PDF), ca. 300 KB
First Survey on Biotechnologies and Public Opinion in Italy (2000): Download a Synopsis of Results (PDF)
Biotech remains unloved by the more informed: an article by M. Bucchi and F. Neresini published in Nature, vol. 416, 21 march 2002, p.261 –www.nature.com
