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Team:Brown/Human Practices/Synbio survey
From 2010.igem.org
Survey
We were interested in how the rest of their community at Brown University perceived Synthetic Biology. We created a survey, distributed campus-wide online. After a total of 457 responses, here are our results! Most of the respondents were females, students, and those concentrating in the sciences. However, we did get responses from faculty and non-science concentrators as well.
Total respondents: 457
Demographic Questions
How old are you?
The majority of our respondents were students.
How would you describe your gender?
Respondents were about 2/3 female, 1/3 male.
What is the most recent level of education you've completed?
Again, most of the respondents were university students. We suspect that many of those who answered 'High School' also fell into the 'Some College' category, so for the purpose of analyses these two will be grouped.
What is the highest level of education you plan to attain?
More than 80% of respondents are seeking at least a Master's degree.
What is your level of biology education?
There is a good spread of biology education in our respondents, which lends itself well to analysis. Very few respondents had absolutely no biology education.
How would you classify your concentration?
Roughly half of the respondents are majoring in the life sciences. Less than a quarter of respondents are not majoring in a science of some kind.
Familiarity with Synthetic Biology
Have you heard of "Synthetic Biology" before?
If yes, where?
The most common way to hear about synthetic biology was through classes.
Define what you think Synthetic Biology is (or might be)
Uses of Synthetic Biology
We told respondents at the beginning of this page of the survey: Wikipedia defines Synthetic Biology as: "Synthetic biology encompasses a variety of different approaches, methodologies and disciplines, and many different definitions exist. What they all have in common, however, is that they see synthetic biology as the design and construction of new biological functions and systems not found in nature."
What words would you use to describe synthetic biology? (from a list)
A weighted tag cloud of all the words:
Pick 2 areas you think would most benefit from synthetic biology
What's the coolest use of synthetic biology you can think of?
Synthetic biology is the future of biology
1 - Disagree strongly -> 5 - Agree strongly
Human Practices / Ethics
I am concerned about the deliberate misuse/abuse of genetically modified organisms
1 - Disagree strongly -> 5 - Agree strongly
I am concerned about the unintended consequences of genetically modified organisms
1 - Disagree strongly -> 5 - Agree strongly
There should be greater restrictions on genetic modification of plants/animals
1 - Disagree strongly -> 5 - Agree strongly
Genetically modified organisms can be beneficial to society
1 - Disagree strongly -> 5 - Agree strongly
It is currently easy to genetically modify a plant/animal
1 - Disagree strongly -> 5 - Agree strongly
Genetic modification is morally/ethically wrong
1 - Disagree strongly -> 5 - Agree strongly
Other Thoughts
Do you have any other opinions or thoughts on synthetic biology that you would like to share with us?
