Food Safety Policy Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
Public Underst Sci. 2009 Mar;18(2):177-88. doi: 10.1177/0963662507079375.
Compared to their European counterparts, the American public has been characterized as relatively unknowledgeable and indifferent about genetically modified foods. To evaluate these claims, six focus groups were held in three Arkansas cities to: (1) determine the extent of knowledge the public possesses about genetically modified foods; (2) detail perceived benefits and risks associated with agricultural biotechnology applications; and (3) explore lay perceptions about the genetic modification process itself. Participants demonstrated partial knowledge, and tended to overestimate the number of genetically modified foods. However, participants tended to be familiar with debates surrounding benefits, risks and moral issues associated with agricultural biotechnology applications. Findings also showed that while participants were not overly concerned about combining genes between plants, they were concerned about inserting animal genes into plants. If these results are any indication, moral and ethical issues will dominate any discussion of foods derived from a mixture of animal and plant genes.
与欧洲同行相比，美国公众被认为对转基因食品的了解相对较少，也不太关注。为了评估这些说法，在阿肯色州的三个城市举行了六次焦点小组会议，目的是：（1）确定公众对转基因食品的了解程度；（2）详细说明与农业生物技术应用相关的感知益处和风险；（3）探讨公众对基因改造过程本身的看法。参与者表现出部分了解，并且往往高估了转基因食品的数量。然而，参与者往往熟悉围绕农业生物技术应用的益处、风险和道德问题的争论。研究结果还表明，尽管参与者对植物之间的基因结合并不过于担心，但他们对将动物基因插入植物表示担忧。如果这些结果有任何指示意义的话，那么道德和伦理问题将主导任何关于源自动植物混合基因的食品的讨论。
