Europeans have a positive image of biotechnology

 

The majority of Europeans (52 percent) expect that biotechnology will improve their quality of life, while only 44 and 40 percent respectively have such trust in astronautics and nanotechnology. This is the result of a survey conducted by the European Commission in 2005 among a representatively selected polling population of 25,000 from all EU member states on their attitude toward biotechnology.

However, the survey revealed large regional differences: In Germany, only 33 percent of the 1,000 polled individuals were optimistic with regard to greater quality of life based on biotechnology - the lowest value after Greece and Austria.

The survey also showed clear differences concerning the individual areas of biotechnology: While 52 percent and 50 percent of Europeans respectively gave positive ratings to pharmacogenetics (Germany: 46 percent) and gene therapy (Germany: 49 percent), the figure is merely 27 percent (Germany: 21 percent) for "green gene technology," i.e. food production based on genetically altered plants. On the other hand, biopharming - the production of pharmaceutical active ingredients in genetically altered plants - was accepted by 62 percent of the Europeans and 58 percent of the German population.

The majority of Europeans advocate stem cell research under strictly controlled conditions. This applies to umbilical stem cells (65 percent) as well as embryonic stem cells (59 percent). Approval ratings range from 73 or 72 percent for Belgium and Sweden to a mere 31 percent for Slovenia and Estonia. Germany is in the medium range with 54 percent, as is Great Britain with 62 percent.

The use of person-related genetic data for research purposes is accepted by 58 percent of the polled individuals (Germany: 42 percent; Great Britain: 46 percent). Germany had the lowest acceptance of genetic testing.

Though not in Germany, trust in the work of industrial researchers has increased in many countries and has reached a level of 64 percent. This value is only topped by physicians, academic researchers and consumer organizations. On the other hand, environmental organizations incurred significant losses when it comes to the trust of the population: Only 50 percent of the survey population believe that their campaigns against biotechnology are trustworthy.

The survey also proved that Europeans are not more hostile toward technology than Americans or Canadians. However, compared to the Northern countries, Germany had much lower approval ratings.

Since 1991, the "Europeans and Biotechnology" survey has been conducted every three years for a total of six times. This was the final survey. On a European scale, the attitude toward biotechnology has become worse since 1991. The trend reversed only in 1999, and approval ratings reached the level of 1991 again in 1995.

It is the objective of VFA Bio to illustrate the benefits of biotechnology in the medical sector, thereby further enhancing acceptance of this indispensable technology in Germany.

Click here to download the full report:

Europeans and Biotechnology in 2005: "Patterns and Trends - Eurobarometer 64.3, A report to the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research" (PDF/535 KB)