Australasian Biotechnology,
Volume 8 Number 1, January/February 1998, pp. 39-42
Public Perceptions of Genetic Engineering
M. Playne
Code Number:AU98010
Sizes of Files:
Text: 17K
Graphics: No associated graphics files
Over the Christmas-New Year holiday break, major Australian newspapers
featured several articles and letters to the editor critical of where
biotechnology
is leading society, and particularly the pace of introduction of new
innovations,
and the ethics of gene manipulation of plants, animals and humans. The
scare-mongering of extremist elements is leading to an emotive debate on
the value of the new biotechnologies to society. Rational debate is missing,
because most members of the public are quite unaware of the level of publicly
accessible information available to them. An example of the openness of
information on genetic manipulation is given below. This information is
not secret as is sometimes claimed by scare-mongers.
Copyright 1998 Australian Biotechnology Association Ltd.
