Team:Oxford/P&P public engagement
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<h1blue2>Focus Groups</h1blue2> | <h1blue2>Focus Groups</h1blue2> | ||
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- | Our team hosted a group of volunteers | + | Our team hosted a group of volunteers composed of members of the public with no particular interest or prior experience of biotechnology. Our aim was to gain a deeper understanding of public perceptions and concerns regarding the advance of synthetic biology, and in particular to get an idea of how far these concerns are based on misinformation/lack of understanding, and how far they are legitimate, well-founded fears which need to be addressed by the scientific community as the field grows and develops. If synthetic biology is to become increasingly socially accepted, public participation in its growth will be essential. |
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- | Our team hosted a group of volunteers | + | Our team hosted a group of volunteers composed of members of the public with no particular interest or prior experience of biotechnology. Our aim was to gain a deeper understanding of public perceptions and concerns regarding the advance of synthetic biology, and in particular to get an idea of how far these concerns are based on misinformation/lack of understanding, and how far they are legitimate, well-founded fears which need to be addressed by the scientific community as the field grows and develops. |
Particular issues which appear to be recurring themes in this discussion include: | Particular issues which appear to be recurring themes in this discussion include: | ||
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- | There is widespread concern that biological machines may evolve, proliferate, and produce unexpected interactions which might alter the ecosystem. | + | There is widespread concern that biological machines may evolve, proliferate, and produce unexpected interactions which might alter the ecosystem. A couple of individuals vaguely referred to the 'butterfly effect' to express the concern that scientists do not sufficiently understand the ecosystems and environments with which they are dealing in order to accurately predict the outcomes of their actions. Nature behaves in unpredictable and unforeseeable ways - there is concern that something, perhaps biodiversity, will be lost if humans intervene inadvertently in the makeup of life. |
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- | The notion of 'bacteria' generally, and particularly the strains our team plans to use, have strong medical associations and are believed by many to be hazardous to health. E coli is widely understood to cause diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, whilst pseudomonas is best known for causing infections including pneumonia and swimmer's ear. | + | The notion of 'bacteria' generally, and particularly the strains our team plans to use, have strong medical associations and are believed by many to be hazardous to health. E coli is widely understood to cause diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, whilst pseudomonas is best known for causing infections including pneumonia and swimmer's ear. Others dismissed this concern as irrational, but agreed that the ability of bacteria to 'share' genes, evolve quickly, and survive in almost any environment called for extra care by the scientists working with these organisms. |
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<a href="#show3" class="show" id="show3"><div class="blue_news_block"> | <a href="#show3" class="show" id="show3"><div class="blue_news_block"> | ||
- | <h1>Uncontrolled | + | <h1>Uncontrolled release of modified organisms into the environment </h1> |
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<a href="#hide3" class="hide" id="hide3"><div class="blue_news_block"> | <a href="#hide3" class="hide" id="hide3"><div class="blue_news_block"> | ||
- | <h1>Uncontrolled | + | <h1>Uncontrolled release of modified organisms into the environment </h1> |
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- | Based on vague knowledge that bacteria used in research are generally given characteristics of | + | Based on vague knowledge that bacteria used in research are generally given characteristics of antibiotic resistance and that these can spread between organisms. |
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- | There is some concern that patenting could lead to creation of commercial monopolies and inhibit research | + | There is some concern that patenting could lead to creation of commercial monopolies and inhibit research (e.g. BRCA 1 Gene monopoly causing increase in price of testing which could potentially save lives). |
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- | There is great concern that the development of fast-growing fields such as synthetic biology is 'overtaking' the regulation which is in place to regulate its application and to balance the risks and potential benefits. The possibility of biological warfare programmes is a major worry. A further concern is | + | There is great concern that the development of fast-growing fields such as synthetic biology is 'overtaking' the regulation which is in place to regulate its application and to balance the risks and potential benefits. The possibility of biological warfare programmes is a major worry. A further concern is that 'garbage biology' (DIY home synthetic biology) may become a more popular, widespread hobby in the future - and that increased accessibility of synthetic biology to the lay public would make it difficult to enforce current regulations in synthetic biology. |
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- | + | We moved on to discuss ways in which these concerns could be allayed and advanced in order to allow the advance of synthetic biology with cross community support. The most important of the factors raised are explored below... | |
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- | All members of the group agreed that scientists should. Some members also expressed scepticism as to the claims of synthetic biology, and suspected that the potential benefits of the technology had been 'overhyped' in many areas, creating unrealistic hopes. It is important | + | All members of the group agreed that scientists should. Some members also expressed scepticism as to the claims of synthetic biology, and suspected that the potential benefits of the technology had been 'overhyped' in many areas, creating unrealistic hopes. It is important that the scientific and political communities listen, and are seen to be listening, to the concerns of the public so that they feel actively involved in the development of synbio solutions and their integration into everyday life and society. |
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- | There is great concern that the development of fast-growing fields such as synthetic biology is 'overtaking' the regulation which is in place to regulate its application and to balance the risks and potential benefits. Such concerns | + | There is great concern that the development of fast-growing fields such as synthetic biology is 'overtaking' the regulation which is in place to regulate its application and to balance the risks and potential benefits. Such concerns should in future be addressed by communicating with the public in terms of how the research and use of each synthetic biology project is restricted and controlled by existing regulations. |
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<h1blue2>Attitudes Survey</h1blue2> | <h1blue2>Attitudes Survey</h1blue2> | ||
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- | Guided by the feedback we discovered during the focus group activities | + | Guided by the feedback we discovered during the focus group activities, we analysed the responses from over 100 members of the public aged 16-85, selected randomly and coming from all walks of life. Again, we split the respondents into two equal groups, one of which answered the questions after having had the benefit of the introductory presentation above (this time in the form of a leaflet). We compared the responses from these two groups, again to see whether responses were changed by a basic level of understanding (most of the respondents commented that they had had little understanding or had misunderstood many aspects of the topic). The results of our survey are illustrated below. |
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For a complete analysis of our results, take a look at our Intellectual Property Report... | For a complete analysis of our results, take a look at our Intellectual Property Report... | ||
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- | The respondents rated information highly for accuracy (although perhaps this is to be expected as it is unlikely one would continue to read information from a source which regularly got the facts wrong). Relevance also scored highly, showing that people feel synthetic biology has a sufficient impact on their lives that they ought to be kept informed about it. The high score for availability is likely due to the heavy reliance on online information | + | The respondents rated information highly for accuracy (although perhaps this is to be expected as it is unlikely one would continue to read information from a source which regularly got the facts wrong). Relevance also scored highly, showing that people feel synthetic biology has a sufficient impact on their lives that they ought to be kept informed about it. The high score for availability is likely due to the heavy reliance on online information; however, it is probable that this reliance also contributes to the relatively low scores for independence and accessibility. The sources accessed by the public online may well not be aimed at laymen but intended to be read by students or professionals and so may contain a high level of technical detail not accessible to the lay public. |
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<div class="issuedate">How does your level of understanding about synthetic biology affect your concerns about its implications?</div> | <div class="issuedate">How does your level of understanding about synthetic biology affect your concerns about its implications?</div> | ||
- | The vast majority of respondents felt that as their understanding increased | + | The vast majority of respondents felt that as their understanding increased and that their concerns were alleviated. It is the responsibility of synthetic biologists to ensure the public are kept informed about developments and their implications. This will be of critical importance in ensuring public acceptance of synthetic biology solutions to societal problems. |
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- | The graph shows an interesting correlation between perceived level of understanding and attitude - those at the extremes of understanding, i.e. those with very little or very high understanding, generally have positive attitudes, whereas those with a partial but incomplete understanding tend to be more concerned and have a more suspicious approach. This suggests | + | The graph shows an interesting correlation between perceived level of understanding and attitude - those at the extremes of understanding, i.e. those with very little or very high understanding, generally have positive attitudes, whereas those with a partial but incomplete understanding tend to be more concerned and have a more suspicious approach. This suggests indeed that 'a little learning is a dangerous thing, drink deep or taste not the Pierian Spring'. |
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- | <br><br> | + | <br><br></div> |
+ | <a href="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/3/39/OxiGEM_Public_Survey.pdf"> | ||
+ | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/6/6e/Get_Involved_Public_Opinion_Top.jpg" style="float:left;position:relative; width:95%; margin-right:2.5%;margin-left:2.5%;" /></a> | ||
+ | <a href="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/4/40/OxiGEM_Public_Survey.txt"> | ||
+ | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/3/35/Get_Involved_IP_Survey_Bottom.jpg" style="float:left;position:relative; width:95%; margin-right:2.5%;margin-left:2.5%;" /></a> | ||
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+ | Oxford iGEM 2014 | ||
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Inspired by the results of the focus groups and survey we organised and developed activities to bring the world of synthetic biology to members of the public. Click here check out more on our <a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Oxford/Events"> Events</a> page! | Inspired by the results of the focus groups and survey we organised and developed activities to bring the world of synthetic biology to members of the public. Click here check out more on our <a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Oxford/Events"> Events</a> page! | ||
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/f/fa/Oxford_Public_engagement_events.png | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/f/fa/Oxford_Public_engagement_events.png | ||
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- | + | We hope to excite a people from across society about the possibilities of synthetic biology, and to engage people in the debate as to how the science can become accepted into our everyday lives. We were delighted by the great response and enthusiasm we encountered from everyone who took part - thankyou very much who to all who attended!<br> | |
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Latest revision as of 03:36, 18 October 2014