VCU news

By Cary Funk and Thomas Huff

RICHMOND, Va. – Americans see clear benefits to society from new developments in science and medicine but hold strong reservations about new techniques in biotechnology, such as human cloning and genetic therapy, according to a new nationwide survey conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University. 

The third annual VCU Life Sciences Survey, conducted for VCU Life Sciences by the VCU Center for Public Policy, involved telephone interviews with 1,003 adults nationwide, Sept. 3-26. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points. 

“There was near consensus that changing a baby’s genetic characteristics for cosmetic purposes such as eye or hair color would be taking medical advances too far,” said Cary Funk, Ph.D., survey director. Ninety-four percent considered this taking medical advances too far while just four percent said it is making appropriate use of medical advances. When it comes to changing a baby’s genetic characteristics in order to reduce the risk of serious disease, the public was more divided. Fifty-four percent also thought this is taking medical advances too far, while 41 percent said it is an appropriate use of medical advances. 

Other survey highlights:

Objections to human cloning remain strong even under limited conditions


The idea of human cloning elicits strong opposition among the American public. Eighty-four percent were either somewhat or strongly opposed to cloning and most were strongly opposed. Just 13 percent favored human cloning. Less opposition is found for cloning if it is limited to research for the treatment of disease. Under these conditions, 50 percent were in favor while 48 percent were opposed. But 36 percent thought it is morally acceptable to do so, while 53 percent said it is morally wrong to use human cloning technology in developing new treatments for disease. Even those who considered themselves clear about the differences between therapeutic and reproductive cloning felt it is morally wrong to use human cloning technology in this way. 

High scientific interest along with limits to public understanding

Half of Americans strongly agree that “I really enjoy learning how things work in science and technology” while 41 percent somewhat agree with that characterization. Better than four in ten say they have ”a lot” of interest in new scientific (44 percent) and new medical (47 percent) discoveries.

Despite an expressed interest in science, three-quarters of the nation either strongly or somewhat agree “Sometimes new developments in science seem so complicated that a person like me can’t really understand what’s going on.” Even those who express higher levels of interest about science tend to agree with this statement. 

Need for More High School Science Education 

Americans strongly endorse the importance of high school science education. More than half, 55 percent, said it was extremely important for young people in high school to learn about science in school, while 28 percent said it was very important and 15 percent said it was important.  Only one percent of respondents said it was not too important or not at all important. 

Asked about the amount of science education for young people in high school today, 61 percent think students don’t get enough science education, 22 percent think students get about the right amount and just 2 percent think they get too much. 

Fountain of youth through genetic therapy not overly appealing

New genetic technologies may prove able to slow down the aging process but the public seems hesitant to jump at the chance. 61 percent said they were not too or not at all likely to use genetic therapies to live longer while 37 percent thought they were somewhat or very likely to do so. Men are more receptive to using genetic therapy in this way. 43 percent of men compared to 31 percent of women consider themselves very or somewhat likely to use genetic therapy for this purpose.

For a complete report on the survey findings, visit http://www.vcu.edu/lifesci/overview/polls.html.  For hard or fax copies of the complete report, call University News Services at 804/828-1231.