Ineichen Christian, Biller-Andorno Nikola, Deplazes-Zemp Anna
Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, University of ZurichZürich, Switzerland.
Front Genet. 2017 Sep 20;8:122. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2017.00122. eCollection 2017.
This study explores the image of synthetic biology and nanotechnology in comparison to agricultural biotechnology and communication technology by examining spontaneous associations with, and deliberate evaluations of, these technologies by university students. Data were collected through a self-completion online questionnaire by students from two universities in Switzerland. The survey aimed to capture implicit associations, explicit harm-benefit evaluations and views on regulation. The data suggest overall positive associations with emerging technologies. While positive associations were most pronounced for nanotechnology, agricultural biotechnology was attributed with the least favorable associations. In contrast to its positive result in the association task, respondents attributed a high harm potential for nanotechnology. Associations attributed to synthetic biology were demonstrated to be more positive than for agricultural biotechnology, however, not as favorable as for nanotechnology. Contrary to the evaluations of nanotechnology, the benefit-examples of synthetic biology were evaluated particularly positively. Accordingly, the investigated technologies enjoy different esteem, with synthetic biology and nanotechnology both showing a more "exciting" image. Even though, the image of nanotechnology was demonstrated to be more pronounced it was also more heterogeneous across tasks while agricultural biotechnology remains contested. For all technologies, the predominant spontaneous concerns pertain to risks rather than an immoral nature inherent to these technologies. Our data suggest that harm-benefit analyses reveal only one aspect of the attitude toward emerging technologies. Survey questions addressing spontaneous associations with these technologies are a valuable addition for our picture of the image of emerging technologies.
本研究通过考察大学生对这些技术的自发联想以及深思熟虑后的评价，来探究合成生物学和纳米技术相较于农业生物技术和通信技术的形象。数据通过瑞士两所大学的学生自行完成的在线问卷收集。该调查旨在捕捉隐性联想、明确的利弊评价以及对监管的看法。数据表明总体上对新兴技术有积极的联想。虽然对纳米技术的积极联想最为明显，但农业生物技术的联想最不乐观。与在联想任务中的积极结果相反，受访者认为纳米技术有很高的潜在危害。合成生物学的联想被证明比农业生物技术更积极，但不如纳米技术那么有利。与对纳米技术的评价相反，合成生物学的益处实例得到了特别积极的评价。因此，所研究的技术受到不同程度的尊重，合成生物学和纳米技术都呈现出更“令人兴奋”的形象。尽管纳米技术的形象被证明更突出，但在各项任务中也更加多样化，而农业生物技术仍然存在争议。对于所有技术来说，主要的自发担忧都与风险有关，而不是这些技术固有的不道德性质。我们的数据表明，利弊分析只揭示了对新兴技术态度的一个方面。针对与这些技术的自发联想的调查问题，对我们了解新兴技术的形象是一个有价值的补充。
