Biotechnology Survey

Our project relies heavily on education for effective implementation. However, before one is able to educate, it is useful to gauge prior knowledge on the subject one wishes to educate about. The WLC iGEM Team worked to develop a survey to gauge knowledge as well as feelings towards biotechnology since using our probiotic effectively depends on understanding of this topic. Our team faced challenges developing this survey. Biotechnology is a polarized topic and therefore there are a limited amount of unbiased and reliable sources involving biotechnology, and specifically, genetically modified organisms (GMOs). As an iGEM team, we wish to use biotechnology to solve problems in order to help others. To reach a middle ground of understanding between those who have positive feelings towards GMOs and those who feel negatively, it will be useful to assess their feelings quantitatively.

To begin our research on this topic, we surveyed current iGEM members (faculty and student population).