Starkbaum Johannes, Braun Matthias, Dabrock Peter
Department of Political Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Chair for Systematic Theology II (Ethics), Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Kochstraße 6, 91504 Erlangen, Germany.
Syst Synth Biol. 2015 Dec;9(4):147-157. doi: 10.1007/s11693-015-9182-x. Epub 2015 Oct 5.
Synthetic biology is currently one of the most debated emerging biotechnologies. The societal assessment of this technology is primarily based on contributions by scientists and policy makers, who focus mainly on technical challenges and possible risks. While public dialogue is given, it is yet rather limited. This study explores public debates concerning synthetic biology based on a focus group study with citizens from Austria and Germany and contextualises the analysed public views with content from policy reports and previous empirical studies on public engagement. The findings suggest that discussants favoured a gradual implementation process of synthetic biology, which is receptive to questions about the distribution of possible benefits. The discussed topics correspond in many ways with content from policy reports and former investigations, yet the emphasis of the discussions was different for many aspects.
合成生物学是当前最具争议的新兴生物技术之一。对这项技术的社会评估主要基于科学家和政策制定者的贡献，他们主要关注技术挑战和潜在风险。虽然有公众对话，但仍相当有限。本研究基于对奥地利和德国公民的焦点小组研究，探讨了关于合成生物学的公众辩论，并将分析的公众观点与政策报告内容以及先前关于公众参与的实证研究相结合。研究结果表明，讨论者倾向于合成生物学的逐步实施过程，该过程能够接受关于可能利益分配的问题。讨论的主题在许多方面与政策报告和先前调查的内容相符，但在许多方面讨论的重点有所不同。
