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From 2010.igem.org

Bioethics Overview

The University of Illinois Champaign Urbana 2010 iGEM team divided the bioethics project into two parts. First, we created and distributed a survey on the public’s knowledge and perception of synthetic biology. We then took the survey results and used them to customize our interactions with the public in order to better inform the community about synthetic biology.

Part One: Survey

We created a survey to provide us with feedback on the general public’s perception of synthetic biology. As of August 11th 2010, we received 73 responses from a population consisting mostly of students. The bulk of our survey distribution was through Facebook, while we also acquired responses from public events such as the Engineering Open House and Biology Open House held on the University of Illinois Champaign Urbana campus. As a result, the majority of our sample population consisted of students and academics.

Questions:

1. What is your occupation?
2. Do you have any religious affiliation?
3. What is your commitment to this affiliation?
4. Are you from the United States, and if so what state? If not, what country/region are you from?
5. When was the last time you took a biology/engineering class?
6. What are the first 3 words that come to mind when you hear Synthetic Biology?
7. Are you aware of the human genome project?
8. What are your thoughts on artificial nature/intelligence? If the government asked for your support in this area, would you give it?
9. Can you name any ways synthetic biology or genetic engineering has affected your life?
10. What kind of science and/or synthetic biology do you see in pop culture (music, movies, tv etc.)?
11. What kind of things do you see in the future for science and/or synthetic biology?
12. Any other comments?

1. What is your occupation?

2. Do you have any religious affiliation?

3. What is your commitment to this affiliation?

4. Are you from the United States, and if so what state? If not, what country/region are you from?

Illinois	65
Indiana	1
Missouri	1
Texas	1
Wisconsin	1
India	1
Taiwan	1
Vietnam	1

5.When was the last time you took a biology/engineering class?

6. What are the first 3 words that come to mind when you hear Synthetic Biology?

Common Responses: man-made, fake, biology, confusing, complicated, medicine, genetics/genes/genetically modified organisms, bacteria, controversial, engineering, crops

Some of our favorites: nerd, awesome, boring, cyborg, “pretty goddamn cool”

We also noted that many people responded along the lines of “what is that?” so it is evident that a subset of our sample population didn't have a background on synthetic biology itself.

For full list of survey answers to this question click here

7. Are you aware of the human genome project?

8. What are your thoughts on artificial nature/intelligence? If the government asked for your support in this area, would you give it?

It seemed like many people would support research in artificial nature and intelligence, however, with reservation. Most support was contingent on regulation, ethical boundaries, and safety. It was also good to see that those who didn't have the proper background knowledge stated so and that they could not make an educated opinion without this information.

Some of our favorites: "Yes, its awesome. It has so many possibilities". "AI will take over the world!!! I would ask the government for bionic arms".

For full list of survey answers to this question click here

9. Can you name any ways synthetic biology or genetic engineering has affected your life?

For full list of survey answers to this question click here

Common Responses: Many people mentioned genetically engineered crops and the production of drugs. Gene therapy was also a relatively frequent response.

10. What kind of science and/or synthetic biology do you see in pop culture (music, movies, tv etc.)?

Common Responses: The majority mentioned the movie GATTACA. Other common answers included Jurassic Park, I-Robot, and E.T.

For full list of survey answers to this question click here

11. What kind of things do you see in the future for science and/or synthetic biology?

Common Responses: Curing diseases, creating pharmaceuticals, gene therapy, remedy of physical handicaps, and increasing life expectancy.

For full list of survey answers to this question click here

12. Any other comments?

For full list of survey answers to this question click here