Priest S H, Gillespie A W
Department of Journalism, Texas A&M University, 230 Reed McDonald Building, College Station, TX 77843-4111, USA.
Sci Eng Ethics. 2000 Oct;6(4):529-39; discussion 541-2. doi: 10.1007/s11948-000-0012-4.
Survey data are presented on opinions about agricultural biotechnology and its applications held by agricultural science faculty at highly ranked programs in the United States with and without personal involvement in biotechnology-oriented research. Respondents believed biotech holds much promise, but policy positions vary. These results underscore the relationship between opinion and stakeholder interests in this research, even among scientific experts. Media accounts are often seen as causes, rather than artifacts, of the existence of public controversy; European and now U.S. opposition to food biotechnology is often explained away in terms of such a relationship. The authors argue that where even experts are divided, public opposition cannot reasonably be attributed to poor public understanding or sensationalistic media accounts. Ethical implications for communicating science are explored.
本文呈现了美国顶尖项目的农业科学教师对于农业生物技术及其应用的看法的调查数据，这些教师有的参与了面向生物技术的研究，有的则没有。受访者认为生物技术前景广阔，但政策立场各不相同。这些结果强调了在这项研究中观点与利益相关者利益之间的关系，即使在科学专家中也是如此。媒体报道常被视为公众争议存在的原因，而非产物；欧洲以及现在美国对食品生物技术的反对往往用这种关系来解释。作者认为，即使专家们存在分歧，公众的反对也不能合理地归因于公众理解不足或耸人听闻的媒体报道。本文还探讨了科学传播的伦理意义。
