Difference between revisions of "Team:UMaryland/Survey"

Revision as of 21:51, 18 September 2015

As part of this years project, our team wanted to find out how people in our local community felt about genetically modified organisms and various issues surrounding biotechnology. This was particularly salient to our project goals as we are developing DIY technology and alternatives to antibiotic use. Both of these developments can be used to further shared community and "garage" DIY laboratories. To understand how the continued expansion of biology and synthetic biology into communities will be and is being received, and to identify some factors which may contribute to different opinions on this topic, we conducted a community survey.

Survey data was collected from the University of Maryland community including students, professors, and other employees. Additional data was collected from the Montgomery Country Agricultural Fair.

We asked respondents to tell us about what their biggest concerns about the field of biology are today; and their responses were insightful and informative. We also asked them about their specific concerns regarding GMOs and genetic engineering.

The results showed some interesting trends. We noted that most of the older respondents were more likely to be unfamiliar with GMOs, but outside of that group most people had heard about them in the news at some point or another. Familiarity with GMOs, the ability to answer more in-depth questions regarding ethics or popular uses of GMOs, also correlated with level of education, and this correlation was the strongest amongst respondents with science background. Quite a few individuals without the science background could tell us what GMOs were, having heard about them in the news, but had limited knowledge of what they were used for and whether they were safe.

Upon being asked whether GMOs were ethically okay or safe, many just recited what the media told them, that GMOs were unsafe. This led to discussion of whether mandatory labeling of GMOs should be required, how well-informed people believe the public is about biotech, and whether science education int eh states is adequate.

Lastly we asked them about iGEM and if they knew what it was.

[[iGEM_awareness_chart:iGEM_awareness_chart.png]]

Even though many responses came from students or adults with science backgrounds, majority seemed unfamiliar with the competition. This shows how the competition, while it has grown, can be further popularized, especially by educating people more on what genetic engineering is.

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 <p>We asked respondents to tell us about what their biggest concerns about the field of biology are today; and their responses were insightful and informative. We also asked them about their specific concerns regarding GMOs and genetic engineering.</P>
+<p>The results showed some interesting trends. We noted that most of the older respondents were more likely to be unfamiliar with GMOs, but outside of that group most people had heard about them in the news at some point or another. Familiarity with GMOs, the ability to answer more in-depth questions regarding ethics or popular uses of GMOs, also correlated with level of education, and this correlation was the strongest amongst respondents with science background. Quite a few individuals without  the science background could tell us what GMOs were, having heard about them in the news, but had limited knowledge of what they were used for and whether they were safe.</P>
+<p>Upon being asked whether GMOs were ethically okay or safe, many just recited what the media told them, that GMOs were unsafe. This led to discussion of whether mandatory labeling of GMOs should be required, how well-informed people believe the public is about biotech, and whether science education int eh states is adequate.</P>
+<p></P>
 <p>Lastly we asked them about iGEM and if they knew what it was.</P>