(From left to right) Esther Molina, Manel Porcar, Martí Domínguez and Adriel Latorre.

A research group from the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a joint center of the University of Valencia and the CSIC, and the Department of Language Theory and Communication Sciences has carried out a macro-survey at the CosmoCaixa Museum in Barcelona to find out what society accepts the biotechnology and other subdisciplines, and what is the perception of gender in science. The survey has revealed that the population is more favorable to the terms biotechnology or genetic engineering than to synthetic biology. Disciplines associated with female researchers have also obtained better ratings than those associated with men. The survey included a sample of 38,113 people.

Manel Porcar and Esther Molina, from I2SysBio, Martí Domínguez, from the Department of Language Theory and Communication Sciences of the UV, and Adriel Latorre, from Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, carried out the survey to check the current opinion around genetic engineering, synthetic biology and biotechnology, three disciplines that, according to the study itself, tend to create controversy, concern and a certain reluctance among society. This has taken place in an exhibition focused on synthetic biology exhibited at the CosmoCaixa Museum in Barcelona.

Biotechnology, genetic engineering and synthetic biology are terms that are very interrelated and with very blurred boundaries between them. Biotechnology is the discipline of science that uses living organisms, cells or cellular components to make products for agriculture, medicine or industry. It is a very old practice that is now done in the laboratory but that humans have carried out, even involuntarily, throughout history. On the other hand, genetic engineering is a subdiscipline of it and its practice consists of manipulating the genetic code of organisms. These two disciplines normally use organisms from nature. On the other hand, synthetic biology consists of designing and manipulating artificial systems created in laboratories and can also be seen as a new aspect of genetic engineering. According to the research group, these terms are systematically related to genetically modified organisms (Genetically Modified Organisms, GMOs). And this, added to the critical perception of this type of organisms, has generated a negative response towards biotechnology.

The total sample was 38,113 people, a figure that guarantees solid results in this regard. The participating people have been divided into 6 generational groups based on their date of birth. The first group was made up of people born between 1920 and 1945, the so-called “Silent Generation”. The second group, the baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964. The third, Generation The fifth, the centennials, people born between 1997 and 2010. Finally, the Alpha Generation, people born after 2011.

The survey, carried out in Spanish, Catalan and English, asked the participants about their age, gender and academic training. The answer consisted of rating from 0 (unfavorable) to 10 (very favorable) an image with the question “How would you rate the following scientific field?” The survey randomly showed an image of six different random combinations (that is, three female scientists, each with a discipline, and three male scientists).

The results show that the terms biotechnology and genetic engineering have better acceptance than synthetic biology – an unexpected result, since the survey was framed within an exhibition focused on synthetic biology, which shows that the exhibition has not managed to change the perception of the people–. In the words of Manuel Porcar, "it is surprising how the term synthetic biology is even worse valued than genetic engineering. The negative connotations of the term artificial are very strong, and it seems that the combination with the term biology makes it even worse. This leads us to an interesting dilemma: if we want to take advantage of the potential of this technology and make it acceptable to society, should we better explain what synthetic biology is? Or do we simply have to change the name?”

Regarding gender, the image of the female scientist has been better valued than the image of the male. One of the reasons given by the research group is that the majority of women who attended the exhibition, interested in scientific issues, have positively valued the women in the images, which means that the general perception of women has improved, but that it has had no effect on the image of men. They also suggest that, given that the majority of visitors to the exhibition belong to the centennial generation, the better perception of the figure of women is due to the fact that the promotion of the figure of female scientists in recent years has had an effect.

Regarding academic level, the results have shown that people with a higher educational level had more acceptance towards the three disciplines than people with a low level of education. Also, people with more education have shown less inequality in terms of the perception of men and women. And in terms of age, the results show that the youngest generational groups (centennials and Generation Alpha) and the oldest (Silent Generation and baby boomers) are the ones that give the worst evaluations, while those people who belong to generation of Systems (I2SysBio), a joint center of the University of Valencia and the Higher Council for Scientific Research, is dedicated to the study of complex biological systems, especially microorganisms, with applications mainly in biomedicine and biotechnology. The center works through an innovative public-private research model and is located in the Science Park of the University of Valencia, on the Burjassot-Paterna campus.

Article:

Manuel Porcar et al. «Words, Images and gender. Lessons from a survey on the public perception of synthetic biology and related Disciplines». EMBO Reports (2019) DOI 10.15252/embr.201948401 |

https://www.embopress.org/cgi/doi/10.15252/embr.201948401